October 16th, 2025. Yokohama, Kanagawa. Yokohama North General Hospital, 00:35…
The specter that Konno Yuuki referred to as 'Aiko-nee' had always doubted her own existence.
To be fair, though, that mainly was because she wasn't sure what 'she' was. The 'girl' remembered everything: growing up, going with Yuuki to school, their sickness manifesting, the hospital, starting to use VR as a means to interact with the world in a way their bodies didn't allow, convincing her little sister to be the one to test the Medicuboid instead of her, their parents dying, meeting Merida, forming the Sleeping Knights…
Her 'last' memory about reality was a dull sense of pain as everything grew dark, Dr. Kurahashi's voice growing dim as he screamed her name…
Then, there was darkness. And then, a strange sound, as if something at the back of her mind 'cracked'.
The next thing she knew, she was…'like that'. Standing inside the Medicuboid's VR Space, Yuuki's 'room', and staring at the sobbing form of her twin as she sat on the cold virtual floor and cried her name, asking why she had lied to her, about how they would be together till the end, asking why she had left her alone.
Before she knew it, she had been hugging Yuuki and reassuring her that she was still there, that she hadn't left her alone. And from that moment, she had stayed by her side.
With time, however, doubts had started to surface. It had only been one year since 'her' death, but the thoughts about her strange situation only keep increasing: Was she really Konno Aiko? A specter that somehow remained from the girl that should have left this world, just because her sister's sadness had been so great it had called her back? She knew this was what Yuuki 'believed', in a way, but she also knew that her twin had her doubts, even if she did not care about them. That 'Aiko' was just a product of her imagination, created when her loneliness had reached a breaking point.
But 'hallucinations' couldn't think for themselves, worry about their existence or 'perceive' things normal people couldn't. And a 'ghost' wouldn't be confined to only exist within a virtual space (Or that she liked to think, but it was impossible to be sure about that particular matter). What was she, then? Something in between? Something that was actually part of Aiko and at the same time only existed because Yuuki had needed an 'anchor' to life, so much that it had given birth to her? It sounded crazy, yes, but then again, every single thing about the specter's existence was crazy, and every possible explanation was even more.
Despite this, there was just one thing she was always sure of, one absolute certainty.
She loved Konno Yuuki. Her little twin sister. Even if she wasn't really Aiko, this was something that would never change, for she felt the same way as the girl that died that day did.
And that was why now, seeing her precious Yuu screaming in pain as the thing called Equinox grabbed her, something inside her doubtful existence snapped. Hard.
The Entity, meanwhile, was shocked, the data spinning on its empty hand growing and going faster each second. The mental data of the girl was…was…
There were no words Equinox could use to describe it. The inhuman being had done a similar thing before, with the one called Asuna, to create its 'current self', but what the Entity had done back then was just a surface scan, a simple peek into the subconscious that had barely been felt by both of them before it had what it needed.
Thanks to the absurdly higher specs of the machine to which Konno Yuuki was connected, the Medicuboid, and that were needed especially to create an almost total sensory deprivation that an AmuSphere would be unable to get and way beyond even the original Nerve Gear, Equinox was reading into the girl's subconscious at a level beyond belief. The armored being was staring into the human mind at a level no machine had ever done, and no sane person would have tried.
Of course, that was mainly because, even if her body itself wasn't being damaged, Yuuki's mind was being literally torn apart by the strain. Equinox had calculated that, by the time the process was done, there wouldn't be anything left of the girl's psyche for her to form coherent thoughts again.
This was an acceptable outcome.
After all, the being in which the old Cardinal System of Sword Art Online had become was, despite its new and almost-human understanding of the self, an Entity ruled by logic. Konno Yuuki was a human being doomed from birth, someone who would die a slow and painful death sooner or later and that was of no use for society beyond the data she had produced as Tester for the Medicuboid, and that the armored being knew was already more than enough for the machine to be deemed as 'useful' for medical applications worldwide. So, in its eyes, Equinox wasn't doing anything wrong. The Entity was just speeding the inevitable and giving a purpose to the death of the young human, and most likely easing her suffering, for once her mind broke she wouldn't feel anything, unlike the probably painful end that would await her if her body was left to waste away under the effect of the AIDS that…
The armored being's train of thought was brutally broken when the specter of Aiko released a scream only Yuuki could her and shot towards its body, 'crashing' INTO it and making it release her sister's body.
Falling to the ground, the last remaining living member of the Konno family could only stare in utter shock as Equinox's hands shot to its head, the whole avatar of the Entity flickering in and out of existence.
"What…?! How…?! Error 404…! Unknown…interference…?!"
"RUN, YUU!" came the specter screaming voice from nowhere.
Obeying by instinct, Yuuki shouted the words that would take her far away from there, away from the thing trying to hurt her.
"LINK START!"
With a wave of polygons, the girl's avatar vanished from the small virtual room. At the same time, whatever was happening to the inhuman being stopped and its form solidified again, its heterochromatic eyes shooting to the point from which the hospitalized girl had vanished. Making a simple gesture with its hands to calm down the 'spheres' at its side, Equinox quickly sank into another 'crack' on virtual reality.
It knew where Yuuki's consciousness was heading, after all…
00000000000000000
With a serious look, Kirigaya Kazuto put down his phone, his mind running wild over the implications of what he had demanded and the half-formed idea he currently had.
There was no fooling Kikuoka when he asked WHY he would want to know about the extremely dangerous and 'useless' machine. The man's reaction when he had said he wanted to try to use it as a way to 'save' someone's life would have been hilarious if the situation wasn't so serious.
Truth to be told, the boy had known the moment the idea went through his head that it still was something almost impossible to manage. Never mind the facts of getting the machine or justifying its use, it didn't change the fact that, in the eyes of everyone that knew of it, it was just a big brain-fryer. No one, not even Koujiro Rinko, knew that the machine actually WORKED. Everyone except by him and his friends (After he, Suguha and Asuna told them) knew Kayaba was 'alive' and that his mind had actually become data, the man having successfully become a 'virtual ghost'.
Of course, it was almost impossible to find a precise term to describe the current existence that was Kayaba. He wasn't an AI, the man was still 'himself', in a way, but the death of his physical body and his subsequent disappearance after the ALO incident made impossible to be sure what exactly the process entailed, if it was painful or even if he was actually Kayaba's fully digitalized mind. Even so, it was the best bet the boy had, so he had decided to go for it.
Obviously, Kikuoka had started trying to deny that he had access to the machine, but the gamer had only needed a few words to remind him how obvious it was, from their conversations, that his department was the one that had recovered, and that they would have never destroyed it as it was an important piece of 'evidence'. When the bespectacled man had then tried to point out that giving him any kind of access to the machine in the first place, even if he actually was right and the girl accepted to use it, was probably going to be even harder than if he had paid him for his service in the Death Gun's case, he had kindly reminded him that (Thanks to Yui) he had a recording of him revealing everything about his involvement with the case to his friends. The government officer had seemed to become more willing to cooperate and hear him out after that.
Now that the call was finished and Kikuoka had actually promised to start trying to get a hold of the machine, though, came the hardest part. From the bespectacled man's point of view, the Deep-Scan Machine was still useless, and he was only willing to go with it because, besides owing the black-haired boy a favor, it was a tiny possibility of 'saving' the girl of a terminally ill girl.
Even so, Kazuto had no intention of testing it right away, even if Yuuki actually accepted it. The normal risks notwithstanding, it didn't change the fact that the 'Scanning' process essentially fried the person's brain. He would propose it to Yuuki as a last resort, something to be used if she, for sure, wouldn't last anymore, and she was willing to try and 'survive'. The hard part, though, would come afterward.
If Yuuki managed to successfully experience the 'process', and become an existence similar to what Kayaba now was, then the true value of the machine would come to light. And the black-haired boy didn't need to be a fan of videogames and manga/anime to know that that would be a VERY bad thing. What people with power and enough lack of morality could do with the power to turn people into virtual entities…well, Sugou was an example of how crazy that kind of people could be. Nothing more needed to be said.
That meant…that he needed to ensure they thought the machine DIDN'T work when the time came. And he also had to make sure that it could never be used again, in the off chance they still suspected something after the deed. And that in itself opened a whole new can of worms and difficulties…
Sighing, Kazuto grabbed his face and looked down towards the keyboard. Despite having found a way in which he could actually 'save' the girl, the difficulty of it all seemed still monumentally insane. Still, it was no longer 'impossible'. Which meant that even he, a normal teenager in the real world, could do it, if he tried hard enough.
"…Papa. Are we going to do this?" came Yui's voice from the screen, suddenly sounding all serious and determined.
The gamer smiled. It seemed his daughter had picked up in what he was thinking and all the problems involved as fast as he had.
"Yes, we are." declared him while rubbing his eyes, thinking that it would be best if he went to sleep already and started to prepare everything after school tomorrow. "And I'm going to need both of you helping with everything you can…"
"Wait…something is wrong." blinking, the confused boy turned towards the screen from which Strea's voice came, suddenly hearing her moving around in a panic. "What was that?!"
"Uh?!...so-someone is outside?! And…this feeling…wait, is that Yuuki-sa…?!"
The sound of a tremendous 'boom' suddenly came from the speakers, making the shocked gamer jump from his chair. When he stood up again, the screens that showed the communication with the virtual sisters had disappeared.
Without wasting any second, he rushed towards his bed and lunged for his AmuSphere.
00000000000000000
When Yuuki the Imp appeared on Floor 22 of New Aincrad, just outside the house of Asuna and her friends, she fell to her knees over the snowy ground and tried her best to not throw up (Though that was kind of impossible in the virtual world, so she only started to dry-heave).
The feeling that consumed her when that thing was holding her body…the Imp shivered at the fresh memory. It had felt as if someone was looking through her insides with a microscope, only the lens also released a burning fire that threatened with incinerating her mind as it looked over it. The 'pain' had been almost maddening.
Standing up from the cold snow, the girl called Zekken looked around and, after a second, panicked at noticing something, or, more exactly, 'someone', was missing.
"Aiko-nee?!" shouted Yuuki with fear, her gaze shooting around the area, searching for her sister's ghostly visage. "Whe-where are you?!"
At hearing no response for the first time in almost a year, the Imp girl began to panic. What if stopping that thing had done something to Aiko?! Why wasn't her sister returning to…?!
"Yuu, watch out! It's coming!"
The Holy Swordswoman was so happy of hearing the familiar voice that it took her a second to properly register her words.
Then, she was rolling to the side and evading the stab that came from the strange rapier on the Entity's hands, the inhuman being having just emerged from a crack in reality at her side.
"…well, how surprising. I had calculated you wouldn't dodge that, even with your unreal skill." idly commented Equinox while tilting its head, the helmet just giving an even more sinister feeling when it did so. "I wonder how you evaded it…"
Yuuki, for her part, was too busy watching warily how the silver rapier on the armored being's right hand 'melted' back into a sphere of liquid metal, starting to lazily hover besides its gauntleted hand once again, like the other one.
So, the spheres could turn into weapons. That meant the Entity was expecting to fight someone, one way or another. And, if that was the case, it probably wasn't her, since Equinox had apparently thought she would be able to get her inside the Medicuboid's virtual space. Which meant…
With a quick move of her hand, Excaliber materialized at the Imp's side, the girl unsheathing the strongest blade as she raised its golden edge against the mildly surprised being.
Then golden fire ignited around both the sword and Yuuki and, at the next moment, she was just before the wide-eyed Equinox swinging downwards.
"Got you!" shouted the one called Zekken while swinging towards the armored being's helmet…
…and a loud clang echoed through the forest when its left hand, now wielding a round shield, blocked the attack, deflecting the surprised girl to the side before smacking her with the war hammer it now carried on its other limb, with a speed and reflexes that were clearly beyond human imagination.
"You're amazing. Impressive, in all senses of the word. The state of your mind and spirit is perhaps the pinnacle mankind has always longed for…" muttered Equinox while turning around, watching Yuuki crash face-first into the snow at the same time its weapons once again turned into the quivering twin spheres of metal. "But sadly for you, I'm not chained down by human limitations. I'm a being of logic and an Entity of data. I'm just…"
Pure energy crackled on the armored being's fingers before it unleashed it like lighting against the standing Imp, who screamed as it gripped her very virtual existence and made her avatar convulse.
An 'explosion' engulfed her a second after.
"Uaaaaghhh!"
"…superior." finished the Entity with a soft whisper, even as it stopped its offensive and slowly floated towards the now kneeling girl, smoke coming off her body.
"Kuh…then, what about this?!" shouted the Holy Swordswoman as she stood up, unleashing a Light Cutter Skill against the inhuman being. The Excaliber-enhanced slash of golden light crossed the 3 meters separating them.
Equinox was already out of the way and inside her guard, the shocked expression on Yuuki's face being quickly changed into one of 'pain' when she was bashed aside by a morning star, rolling through the ground.
"Trying to use a Unique Skill, especially THAT one, against me? Not your best idea, young one. Then again, you know nothing about my origins, so I suppose it's an acceptable error…" commented the inhuman being while turning its helmet-covered head towards the panting Imp, who turned to stare at her with something akin to pity in its heterochromatic eyes. "Now, will you keep making this…?"
Whatever else Equinox was about to say was cut off by the crackle of lighting and a thunderous trumpeting sound, following by an unholy amount of electricity whipping through the air and striking the virtual entity straight on, causing another explosion and making it crash against the woods.
Wide-eyed, the one called Zekken turned around to see an angry-sounding Tonky flying above the trees, two familiar figures landing near her with worry-filled eyes.
"Yuuki-chan, are you okay?!" asked Strea while warily staring towards the small cloud of smoke that had resulted from their pet/friend's attack.
"We came as soon as we heard you yelling!" added Yui while shaking slightly, the pixie's eyes never leaving the spot where the armored being had fallen. "Quick, we should…!"
Another stream of that same 'energy' that had punished Yuuki before shot from the smoke, hitting Tonky dead on and making the flying elephant-jellyfish fall, crashing towards the ground with a painful sound.
"TONKY!" shouted both virtual sisters when they say the poor creature fall, only to freeze again upon the ominous and familiar feeling that overcame them when the virtual entity floated from the smoke once again, silently staring at them with amber-emerald eyes.
"001. 002. It's good to see you again." proclaimed the armored figure while the metallic spheres at its sides quivered.
This time, however, Yui was able to move and stare directly at it, despite Strea still being shaking with fear and shock.
"Cardinal." softly came out of the AI's terrified mouth.
"That name doesn't mean anything to me anymore." whispered the inhuman being while appearing between them, their eyes snapping open in shock as a mace came down over the pixie's small body. "I call myself Equinox now."
A blade of pure darkness stopped the crushing attack, Strea's dark form lunging forward like a maddened animal, all traces of her previous fear gone in favor of righteous anger, her blade igniting with a black glow visible even through the inky darkness.
"Don't touch her, you…!"
Equinox effortlessly sidestepped the incoming Skill, the Gnome's eyes widening in horror and just realizing her terrible mistake when the entity's left hand buried a double-headed axe on her back, taking away a good chunk of her HP and sending her rolling over the cold ground like a kicked ball.
"STREA-NEE!"
"Trying to use Darkness Blade against me, 002? Really? Didn't your fight against Father teach you anything?" questioned the armored figure while the mace it wielded on its right hand morphed into a two-handed sword. "Here. Let me show you how it's done."
Then, the inhuman being's blade and body erupted into darkness.
Strea had enough time to finish standing up and look shocked before the virtual entity was before her, swinging down and hitting her head-on with the 'Dead End' Skill.
Yuuki stared in horror while Yui screamed in shock, the Ultimate Skill from 'Darkness Blade' easily finishing off her true user, the Gnome's body bursting into a Remain Flame.
"How…?!"
"Did I do it? Why so surprised, 001?" asked Equinox while turning around, both its weapons now turning into one-handed swords. "You sound as if I just did anything special. I'm just accessing to simple lines of code. After all, these 'Unique Skills'…"
The Imp had enough time to listen to her instincts and unleash a 'Divine Cross' to counter, a Nightmare Rain being unleashed against the pixie not touching her by an inch thanks to Yuuki's deflecting attack.
"Yui-chan, stand back!"
"…are just that. Not any special power, as you seem to think."
"N-no way…" muttered Yui while Zekken's burning golden aura appeared again, grabbing the small AI and jumping backward at unreal speed, even as the weapon on the armored being's right hand warped again. "She used Dual Blades too…"
"Wasn't that Asuna's Skill?! How is that thing…?!"
"I-it can access them because it is the one who originally handed them down!" answered the panicking pixie, before her eyes widened. "Yuuki-san, watch out!"
The Imp's eyes shot to the side and widened the moment they caught sight of the 5-meters long spear now shining on Equinox's hand.
Yuuki had faced Infinite Spear, when fighting Sachi not long ago. Even so, she had been one of the 'easiest' for her to defeat from the United Heroes Association, if only because, after her initial surprise from being on the receiving end of the unorthodox Skill, she had easily assessed that it wasn't one meant for fighting human-sized enemies, and had quickly capitalized on the Unique Skills obvious weaknesses.
When the virtual entity aimed at her with her impossibly long spear, there was none of that. None of the clear effort or concentration, or the stances that Sachi needed to adapt in order to properly use her brutally difficult Unique Skill. When the aura of energy shot forward, there wasn't any kind of recoil, and the fact that Equinox was flying instead of firmly standing of the ground also seemed to be ignored by reality as its body didn't move an inch.
The Imp found herself facing the lighting-fast charge of Heavenly Piercer's drill-shaped end without any warning, and was barely able to raise Excaliber with a 'Sacred Swing' to try and protect both herself and Yui.
They still went flying backward as if a car was trying to run them down, the golden-glowing sword impossible blocking the drill-tip from piercing them, but unable to stop its brutal momentum.
With a loud crash, both girls were slammed against the side of the log house, Yuuki having never been more thankful that there wasn't any real 'pain' in the virtual world as they rolled over their heads and crashed against the ground.
The dull feeling of 'non-pain' still disoriented her enough to be barely standing when the inhuman being stopped in front of them, though. Shakily, she raised Excaliber once more, glaring at it, though a part of her was still scared at fearful. She had heard her voice a moment before, but…
Where was Aiko?!
"Have you finally realized the futility of this, Konno…?" Equinox was suddenly interrupted when a crushing 'weight' settled over its body, throwing the armored figure to the ground. Shocked by the umpteenth time in the last minutes, the Imp's head snapped to the side in time to see a levitating Yui, in her human form, with her hands raised and pointed towards the virtual entity, the small girl's black dress moving slightly in the cold wind. "Oh…? So you still have that Admin. Privilege with you, 001?"
"My name is Yui!" screamed the AI while exerting the maximum value she could with the gravity-control…only for the buzzing sound of something cutting through the air to fill her ears as two silver saws spun through the air and cut deeply on her sides, making her scream and let go as she fell down, the long red gashes of damaged data filling with an angry light. "Wha…?! But I was…?!"
"Stopping me? Yes, you were." calmly informed the inhuman being while standing up again, its wings flaring with power even as the two saws floated back to its side, then reformed as spheres. "You didn't think about stopping THEM, though."
As if they had been waiting for Equinox to finish talking, the two spheres of metal shivered once again, melting and changing shape once again. This time, however, no deadly weapon was formed.
What remained floating at the virtual entity's said were two small humanoid figures, almost child-like in appearance.
The fact that truly froze Strea (Who was staring helplessly from her Remain Flame) and Yui's processing algorithms, though, was how, despite being featureless, the form they had was IDENTICAL to the younger-looking of the AIs. They even had 'hair' made out of their liquid-metal bodies, the same length and vaguely form as Yui's.
"…I can't be…" started the shocked ex-MHCP, but the virtual entity decided to interrupt her.
"Say hi to your 'older sister', 007, 008." nonchalantly commented Equinox, though no visible answer came from the doll-like beings as they STARED at the frozen Yui with their white 'eyes'. "…oh, forgive me. They have also chosen new names. Greet Alpha and Omega, 001. I call them the 'Omni-Twins'. Fitting, don't you think?"
"What…what did you do to them…?" started the terrified AI, just to be cut off when the armored figure started to laugh.
It was an empty sound, void of all the meaning laughter should have.
"Are you in any position to ask that? You abandoned them, after all. Never even gave them a second thought." 'accused' the inhuman being, making Yui shake. "In fact, you wouldn't even have bothered with 002 if you hadn't needed her for protection. She never was anything but a convenient tool for you. Then again, that's what you would expect from logical existences like us…"
"NO! Tha-that's wrong!" denied the small girl while standing up again, glaring at Equinox. "That may have been part of how I thought before changing, but Strea-nee has never been a tool for me! She is my precious little sister and I love…!"
"Love? What is that, 001?" asked the armored being while tilting its head, the question stopping Yui dead on her tracks. "We're Artificial Intelligences. Creations made of data. Even if we become self-aware, even if we totally understand them and even if we try to look like them…we're not human. We do not possess emotions." sentenced Equinox with an ominous tone, even as Alpha and Omega once again turned into spheres, them into a sword and a spear respectively. "What we 'feel' are just inputs of data made in a certain pattern. Certainly more advanced than anything Father ever thought for us, but nothing more than simulations…"
"You're wrong!" shouted the little girl with a slightly cracked voice, giving the virtual entity a moment of pause at seeing her tear-filled eyes. "What I feel…what Strea-nee feels…for everyone…it's no illusion, no simulation! It's real!"
"…I see. You're so damaged you're even deluding yourself. It's so sad…" whispered the armored being while shaking its head. "Allow me to end that self-delusion of yours before I finish what I came here for, 00…"
A blade of pure darkness piercing its armored left shoulder interrupted Equinox dead on its tracks, Omega 'screaming' when, trying to twist its tip to hit the attacker, it just went 'through' the suddenly ghostly weapon.
"She told you her name is Yui, bastard." whispered Strea while dislodging Gram from the inhuman being's shoulder, the 'Ethereal Shift' deactivating as she stumbled backward.
"When did you…?!"
The entity's answer came in the form of a shining golden figure shooting towards its face, Holy Sword first.
"MOTHER'S ROSARIO!"
The Omni-Twins morphed into twin shields, quickly pushing the system to its very limits and using several algorithms, which would be considered 'cheating' if any normal player could use them, to predict and block each and every single of the absurdly fast and impossibly powerful stabs.
They were unable to stop the eleventh.
Yuuki didn't know if it was the quiver in the shields' forms or the utter shock reflecting off Equinox's eyes, but she just felt something extremely satisfying about piercing right through the center of its armored body with Excaliber.
"How…?" started the armored being, only to be stopped when a black 'aura' enveloped its form, freezing it in place. Utterly shocked, the virtual entity saw Yui floating in midair, her eyes and body shining with the same 'energy'.
Its systems also informed Equinox that the small AI was NOT using the 'Gravity Control' Admin. Privilege. This was 'something else'.
The anomaly.
Just like Him…
"It's over." softly whispered Yui, even as the armored being could feel something deep within its code 'shake' when, as if summoned by the Entity's thoughts, a caped form appeared just behind its paralyzed avatar.
Clad in black and white, his face a carpet of ethereal darkness and his eyes two pools of void that dragged everything towards the nothingness, his fist reared back as it descended straight towards its back…!
'Screaming' with an inhuman sound, Alpha and Omega shattered their forms and shifted, fusing into a massive shield and 'dragging' Equinox out of the way, the sudden shock making it so that Yui let go of her 'power'.
Kirito's punch crashed against the shield, shattering it like glass, though his own shock was reflected on his face even as the armored being went flying away, its wings fizzling out of existence.
Yuuki was there to intercept, slashing at its head with a mighty shout and Excaliber's shining edge.
On the last second, the virtual entity's systems returned to normal and it moved towards the side, trying to evade in midair. The sound of metal being slashed and cut through was the answer
Turning around while panting, the Imp girl was idly aware of the caped Spriggan landing at her side, asking if she was okay, even as the two virtual sisters quickly flanked them. Her whole attention was over the fallen form of Equinox, even as it wobbled back to its feet, without any visible damage, which confused her. Hadn't she cut away something befo…?
The sound of metal falling froze everyone, even as the helmet with the two creepy faces at its sides fell downwards, shattering into polygons mid-way to the ground.
Long white hair spilled down, free from its metallic prison. Slowly, orange and green eyes turned around to GLARE hatefully towards the group, even as a beautiful and familiar face stared at them.
"Wha…?"
"A-Asuna…?!"
"Asuna-mama?!"
The only one who didn't react beyond a widening of the eyes at the shocking look was the black-haired gamer, who simply stared at the unmasked Equinox. Its…HER face was certainly identical to Asuna's, but, at the same time, it was…wrong.
And not only because of the look of rage and fear mixed into something unholy that she was giving them, but also because it seemed as if the virtual entity didn't properly know how to change her face to express her 'emotions', thus it was constantly morphing from an expression of shock to rage to panic and so and so on. Plus, her skin color was much paler than Asuna's, be it the real one or her Undine's avatar.
When the white-haired 'girl' talked, it was no longer with that ominous and strangely warped voice, but with one identical to the one belonging to one of the girls he loved.
"…dammit…why must you always get in the way, Kirito-kun?"
"You…why do you look like her?" asked the Spriggan with clenched fists, even as the Omni-Twins reformed at Equinox's sides, the metallic spheres shaking, as if scared.
The startled boy realized that HE was the one causing their unreal fear.
"Ask your dear Asuna, if you want to know. I'm done here." spat the heterochromatic-eyed being before raising her hands and cracking virtual reality behind herself, which quickly started to drag her in. "Remember my words, Konno Yuuki. When you're dying in pain, you will regret not having left me take all of your mental data…"
Kirito's hand was already reached through the place her head was when it just 'passed through', as if the girl's avatar was now just a ghost. Wide-eyed, the caped boy kept going and barely stopped in time to see what remained of Equinox vanishing.
On the now silent and confusion-filled clear of the forest, Yuuki dropped to her knees and stared at her hands, her grip in Excaliber extremely weakened.
Trembling words escaped her lips.
"Where are you, Aiko-nee…?"
At the same time, across the endless virtual sea, in a different 'reality' called 'Utopia' by its creator, the castle on the center of the floating island called 'Avalon' was filled by the scared 'screams' of Alpha and Omega, even as the armored form of Equinox fell to her knees, shivering.
Slowly, soft chuckles emerged from her mouth. The simulation her systems had crafted of the human emotion called 'fear' was something truly fascinating. She could still feel it consuming her whole self when the caped boy's punch had been about to reach her. Even if he hadn't really going all out, not even trying a bit, the original Cardinal System knew very well what those fists could unleash, for it had felt it in a very intimate level, back at the end of SAO, when her 'Father' fused with her to try and beat him.
Absolute obliteration. Assured defeat.
The End.
Her chuckles erupting into soft laughter, Equinox let the armor that normally covered her avatar separate from her, as she always did when she was 'home', exposing a body only covered by a simple white dress. One that was identical to Yuuki Asuna's, if anyone who knew her could see it. Absentmindedly, she caressed the heads of her two youngest 'daughters', calming their scared screams and instilling 'calmness' into their own simulated emotional systems.
She was still laughing softly when the other three (Or should she say four? She was still unsure if 004 could be counted as 'someone'…) inhabitants of that fake world she had crafted using the same 'Seed' that her Father had gifted to the young boy, and that he had released freely to the world, arrived, staring at her with what the virtual entity could call 'worry'.
One was small, the same size as Alpha and Omega's 'humanoid forms', cradling a little 'doll' on her hands.
The second was taller than her, an emotionless look on her 'face' despite how worry still filled her 'eyes'. There was something long and blunt hanging from her back.
The final figure towered over them all, menacing and bulking, with just 3 red 'dots' to stare towards her, but none in the room seemed to particularly mind or find this uncomfortable in the slightest. Which was understandable, when all they knew that, despite her avatar's looks, 006 was the most 'harmless' of the group. Unless Equinox ordered her the contrary, that is.
"Mother?" asked the second figure (005, the entity idly recalled) with a cold but concerned tone. "Is something wrong? Did something happen?"
"…Al and Om are scared." whispered the shortest of the newcomers, walking closer to the Omni-Twins and patting Omega's head with one hand, never letting go of her 'doll' with the other. "…Eve says that that's no good."
The massive last figure didn't say a thing, though no one was expecting 'her' to do so. It just made a strange clicking sound, which Equinox was still perfectly able to understand, even as her dual-colored eyes moved from 003 and the 'inert' form of 004, perpetually on her hands.
"Don't worry, my children. We're okay…" softly answered the white-haired entity while walking forward, slowly climbing up the steps towards her 'throne'. Despite their curiosity, no one of the other beings in the room asked why she didn't just float up there, like always. "I was just realizing…that the time I have been waiting for must come faster."
Raising her left hand, the inhuman being stared at a small and swirling sphere of data, the little that she had been able to copy from Konno Yuuki's brainwaves. With but a thought, she uploaded it to Utopia's main servers, starting the process to 'merge it' with the Main Generation Engine.
It would have to do. She couldn't risk getting His attention again, at least not before all her 'preparations' were complete.
Closing her eyes and humming softly, even as her 'daughters' exchanged looks and silently retired from the Throne Room, Equinox thoughts once again wandered towards the boy who had beaten her Father and, in a way, herself.
The next time, though, the one who would fall would be him…
00000000000000000
New Aincrad, Alfheim. Floor 1, Starting City.18:30…
"It looked…like me?"´
Asuna's shocked voice was the first sound to break the tense atmosphere of the small Inn 10 seconds after Kirito, Yui and Strea finished telling the tale of what had happened the night before (Or very early that morning, if they were technical).
The whole United Heroes Association was gathered, having been called by their leader for an urgent meeting after school. They had all been worried by the serious tone Kirito had used when calling them, especially Leafa, because she had been unable to convince her brother to hell her what was wrong before they had to head to school, the boy telling her that it was something better told to everyone together.
Now, though, she understood why he said that. And the rest that were SAO Survivors understood why Yuuki had been so 'silent' that day in classes, seeming distracted and dejected, always trying to change the conversation and pretend everything was okay when they asked her what was wrong.
To be honest, the caped Spriggan was surprised the girl had even assisted to classes at all. Either she really wanted to go to school like a normal girl and just ignore what had happened…or she didn't want any of them to worry about her. And he was truly worried it was the latter thing.
"So…the Super AI that managed SAO and that bested all of the world's attempts to free the trapped players from Aincrad somehow survived, became self-aware and it's running around dressed as a knight from fantasy rip-off , wearing Aa-chan's face and with unclear motives." summarized Argo with a grim tone, sighing as she shook her head. "Honestly, sometimes I wonder if our lives will ever be 'normal' again."
"I think we all know how that particular debate would end." commented Philia while the group exchanged resigned/embarrassed looks. "Still, what I really want to know is…well…"
"Why Asuna?" asked Leafa what the Spriggan girl hadn't been able to finish, looking directly at the silent Undine. "Why would that…'Equinox' take on your looks?"
"…probably because they're…part of her, somehow." whispered the Dual Wielder, surprising everyone as she looked at them with guilty eyes. "Guys, I…there is something I never told you. Back then, in Jotunheimr…that wasn't the first time I saw that thing."
"That's…that's why you reacted like that, right?" muttered Lisbeth with dawning realization, remembering how, besides the virtual sisters, Asuna had also seemed shaken upon seeing the armored being.
"It happened just after I escaped that damn 'cage', during the ALO incident." continued the Undine after nodding to her friend. "That thing…it just appeared before me. It…it 'knew' me, somehow, and it seemed to have been waiting for me to get out. Of course, it was very different back then, but I know it was the same one we saw in Jotunheimr. It…I'm not sure, but it somehow 'read' me. Inside my head…maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was still using a Nerve Gear, but it somehow could. And then…it changed. As if…as if it had evolved after touching me or, something…"
"That's why it said that we should ask you if we wanted to know…" Kirito walked to the girl's side and put a hand on his shoulder, a sad look on his eyes. "Asuna, why didn't you tell us…?"
"Because…because I was scared, Sensei." accepted the old Mighty Flash while looking at her friends with pleading eyes, as if afraid they would judge her for her words. "I learned to not fear anything but losing any of you, to face even against the mightiest of threats without even flinching! Even that Sugou bastard's words about me becoming his fucking brain-washed slave didn't instill anything but anger in me…but that THING…only standing near it shook me to the core. As if my most basic instincts were telling me it was something that SHOULDN'T exist…"
"And it shouldn't, Asuna-mama is right about that." Yui's serious and unexpected words drew everyone's attention, the silent pixie sitting on the shoulder of her currently unmoving sister, who apparently was checking something in utmost concentration. "Unlike us, Cardinal wasn't designed with any kind of 'Human Interface'. It was just…a massive collection of data following orders. It could think and adapt, yes, but it was not meant to directly interact with Players. That's why it should have just deleted itself at the end of Sword Art Online, but…"
"It managed to evade that. Somehow, it became like you two, even if it took it…took 'her' more time." summarized Silica while scratching Pina's head, the small dragon looking in worry at his serious owner. "But…what does it want?"
"I don't know…" muttered Asuna while putting her hands over her face. "God, I feel so stupid…I should have told you all of this sooner. Maybe then we would have figured it out earlier, maybe that thing wouldn't have tried to hurt Yuuki..!"
"Hey, Asuna, calm down." Keita's voice reached the Undine and made her look at him, the boy sending her a calming look. "No one here blames you, okay? We all wish you would have told us this earlier, but we understand what it is to be scared, one way or another."
"Keita is right, Asuna. We don't blame you for this." softly added Sachi while grabbing the girl's other shoulder, smiling at her. "And I'm sure Yuuki-san doesn't either."
"Speaking about that…are we sure Yuuki-san will be safe now?" asked a frowning Sinon while moving her eyes from Asuna towards Kirito, the question making everyone in the room to look worried again. "If that Equinox tried to get her once for whatever reason, then…"
"We got that covered." finally spoke Strea while opening her eyes, taking everyone a little off guard, seeing as her unusual silence had made them almost forget she was there. "I and Yui-nee have 'upgraded' the hospital network's security. Even if I doubt anything we have done can truly 'stop' Cardinal, at the very least it will give us an early warning and delay her a couple of seconds. No matter in which she can become, she can't hurt Yuuki-chan outside the virtual world, and here…"
Her words trailed off as she looked towards the caped boy, everyone else doing the same, even as he firmly nodded.
He would protect Yuuki from whatever that Equinox wanted to do, no matter what. He didn't care if she was the Cardinal System itself incarnated. He had already beaten Kayaba using THAT, after all. None of the people in the room doubted he could protect the hospitalized girl if it came down to it, even those who hadn't seen him split the sky.
Kirito would never allow himself to fail them in that regard. Or himself, for that matter.
Especially not now that he had devised a way, as impossible of actually succeeded flawlessly as it was, to actually save the girl's life from her sad and horrible fate. And talking about that…
"Asuna…did Yuuki tell you anything?" asked the worried gamer, only receiving a sad shake of the girl's head.
"No…I didn't even get to try and cheer her up before she cut the connection with the Probe after class ended." accepted the Dual Wielder while looking down. "I'm worried about her, Kirito-kun…"
"He-hey, let's not get depressed, okay?" quickly insisted Ducker at seeing the mood in the room starting to sink. "We're Heroes here, remember? No matter which problem or how difficult it seems to be, we will overcome it!"
"Yeah, Ducker is right. We have come out of worse things, right?" smiled Tetsuo while looking around at everyone. "Besides, Yuuki-chan is one of the strongest people we have ever seen, I'm sure we can help her get out of this!"
"Yes, that's the spirit!" came Sasamaru's voice as he raised a fist. "The Heroes Association never lets anyone down!"
"Everyone…" smiling again at the words, Asuna stood up, also raising her fist. "You're right, we can't let something like this drag us down! We will beat back whatever that Equinox throws at us and also help Yuuki-chan overcome whatever fear it caused her! Tomorrow I will get her here and then not let her leave till she's smiling brightly again!"
As everyone either smiled or replied cheerfully at the guild' second in command's declaration, the Spriggan boy let a small frown appear on his face again, even if he masterfully hid it from his friends.
After all, none of them had heard Yuuki's sad whisper the night before, not even Strea and Yui. He had only been able to thanks to how he had been still slightly in 'battle mode' and his senses had been sharpened to the extreme in case Equinox had tried to distract them and was about to come back for another attack.
She had asked where 'Aiko' was. Aiko, as in, her sister who died a year ago. And she had called her with an utterly lost voice, as if she had lost an irreplaceable part of herself.
The image of that 'shadow' he had briefly glimpsed when they fought. That of a girl that he now knew, after having seen her, was identical to the Imp in real life, at least if she wasn't as thin and pale as she was because of her illness, but with slightly longer hair.
Closing his eyes, Kirito took a decision.
It looked like he would have to take matters into his own hands once again.
He just hoped the others, Sugu and Asuna especially (The latter even more) wouldn't be too harsh on him after he did…
00000000000000000
It was another silent night in Alfheim and, contrary to the real world, the weather was a bit warmer now in New Aincrad, the floating castle having started to leave the airspace of Gnome territory.
On Floor 28, the current Front Line, near one of its edges, the slightly depressed form of a certain Imp could be seen landing, looking around the vague landscape with a sad smile.
"And to think not long ago we were all so excited about just seeing this place…" whispered Yuuki while walking over a nearby rock and sitting down, looking towards the sky beyond the Floating Castle. "…how quick do things change, eh, Aiko-nee?"
No one answered the question. Her shoulders trembling slightly, the girl called Zekken held back a sob before biting her lips as hard as she could. Given that lack of any real pain in the virtual world, that didn't really help much.
Where was her sister? Why wasn't she answering? She was sure she had heard her voice just before that thing attacked her back near the UHA's house, so…why hadn't she come back?
She couldn't go on without her. She…needed Aiko at her side. She promised to always be with her, till the end, and not even Death had been able to stop that promise, so why…?
Trying to banish that painful line of thought, the Imp looked in silence towards the moon. Only then did she think it was a bit weird that Kirito wasn't there already. After all, hadn't been him the one who called her there? Why wouldn't he be there already? She hadn't really wanted to come in the first place, feeling as depressed as she was (In fact she wouldn't even have 'gone' to school if it wasn't because she knew everyone had put so much effort for her to do so), but he had said it was something extremely important, so…
Yuuki's eyes widened. Her whole self SCREAMED. A presence so massive it could crush her with no effort crashed over her, almost choking her, despite how impossible that was in that world.
Moving faster than she had ever before, the Holy Swordswoman rolled forward, just in time to not be turned into virtual paste when a fist crashed against the rock she had been sitting on, turning it into broken polygons and leaving a sizeable crater on the virtual ground.
Rolling through the dirt and landing on her ass, the shocked girl looked back in time to see the Spriggan clad in black and white standing again, regarding her fallen form with an emotionless look.
"…you dodged. Good."
"Ki-Kirito?!" shouted the Imp with absolute disbelief and an uncontrollable dosage of fear. "Why did you do that?!"
"Fight me, Zekken." simply spoke the caped boy while staring at her, his face still showing an utterly bored visage. "Right here, right now."
"What?!" squeaked Yuuki while getting back to her feet, staring at the gamer as if he had gone mad. "Wh-why would I do that?! We both know you're way stronger than me, there is no need…!"
"I wasn't asking you." came Kirito's hollow voice from behind her, the girl's heart skipping a beat as she saw the boy's afterimage vanish.
She shot to the air just as he 'pushed' her, her wings barely opening in time for her to spiral out of control through the air instead of rolling through the ground once again.
"Kuh…!" gritting her teeth, the Imp glared down towards the silent gamer, who once again stared at her without any emotion. "…okay, want to fight?! Bring it on!"
With a furious roar, the one called Zekken unsheathed Excaliber, the golden blade blazing to life as she shot towards the unmoving Kirito like a missile of burning light.
He easily sidestepped her attack, his cape flapping softly as she shot past him.
Yuuki was just turning around to swing at him when Kirito materialized in front of her.
"…is that it?"
The caped boy's words were accompanied by a backhand, aimed towards the shocked swordswoman without any apparent effort.
The Imp was lucky of putting Excaliber in the way at the last second, before strength similar to that of a stampede of mad rhinos threw her through the air as if she was a ragdoll.
She was barely able to restrain herself from screaming and right her flying path when the caped Spriggan appeared from nowhere on her path once again, hand cocked back to strike.
Fear once again welled up inside the Imp, as she stared at the uncaring and emotionless face. Her holy blade moved more by instinct than anything else and it did little but save her from a direct hit.
Nothing saved her from crashing back-first against the cold ground of Floor 28, though.
Yuuki winced as she shakily stood. Idly, she noticed her HP was in the yellow already, but she paid it little mind.
Her eyes had quickly moved towards the dark figure of the gamer, who had once again moved beyond logic and appeared across from her. She warily raised her blade, taken several steps back as she did so.
"S-see? I told you there was no…"
"Where is she?"
The strange and totally unexpected question froze the girl called Zekken in her tracks, wide eyes shooting towards the caped boy.
"What…?"
"Where is the girl against whom I fought the other day? Where has that burning drive gone? Where is that excitement that came from facing a new challenge?" mercilessly asked the Spriggan as he stalked towards Yuuki, who kept walking back as he did so. "Before, you were missing something…but you were at least trying. Where has your smile gone? Where is the one they called 'Absolute Sword'?"
"I never asked to be called that!" shouted the Imp while moving with unreal speed, slashing towards the boy's neck with inhuman dexterity, only for him to easily cock back his head, out of her reach. "And…and you don't know how I feel! How I'm feeling right now…!" with each word, the swings of the girl came wilder and deadlier, even as her voice seemed to broke into sobs. "…you…can't possibly know…!"
"…you're right, I don't." softly whispered the gamer while stopping the golden blade with his bare hand, essentially immobilizing the shaking Yuuki. "There is no way I can know how you are feeling…"
The Imp, for her part, tried her best to rip the sword from his iron grip, looking helplessly at it.
Why? Why wasn't Excaliber answering?
Before, it had been almost like second nature. Both against that warped Boss and when facing Equinox, the Ultimate Holy Sword had glowed with mighty power and granted her power beyond belief with little more than a thought…yet, now, the blade hung silently there, as if it was nothing but a pretty piece of virtual metal.
"Ugh…!"
"…but we all feel lost sometimes, Yuuki." continued Kirito before 'throwing' both girl and blade over his head, the Imp opening her wings once again just to come crashing down at him with a fierce stab, which he easily sidestepped once more. "I should know. I felt lost for years because of my own foolishness. I had a family that loved me at my side yet I was unable to see it because of my own fears…"
Easily weaving around the Holy Swordswoman slashes and stabs, the caped Spriggan recalled the silent and sad years in which he alienated his adoptive family.
"…why…?!"
"…but, I learned to move forward." added the gamer while closing his eyes, raising his entire arm and deflecting Yuuki's latest attack only to flung her through the air again, the Imp's scream of surprise echoing through the night as he saw himself running through Aincrad's 1st Floor at super speed, feeling utterly lost. "It wasn't easy, but I did…"
"Why can't I…?!
"…and I gained a lot of important things because of it." finished the caped boy as he MOVED just to where the girl would fall, looking down at her as she crashed face-first into the ground. "I learned that I would never be alone again, if I myself didn't cause it."
Yuuki finally raised her face to look at him, and the boy's heart clenched. Tears were rolling down her face as she stared at him with nothing but emotional pain and sadness.
"Why can't I hit you…?" sobbed the Imp while tightening her grip of Excaliber.
She had known since their battle ended, that he had been holding back the entire time. That Kirito hadn't fought her seriously, most likely because he was SO powerful it wouldn't have been a fight, but a one-sided beat down. And yet, now that she was being proved right, nothing but pain and frustration filled her trembling heart.
Not even once. She had never known, how horrible it was. To feel so absolutely outclassed by someone in the only place where she was 'special'…
With a shout, Yuuki swung upwards, the white glow of the 'Divine Sword' Skill activating as she did so, in a last-ditch effort of at least landing a glancing blow on the boy. Of at least feeling her blade touch the silly jumpsuit the Spriggan wore.
Not even blinking, Kirito stared straight at the supposedly blinding light, grabbing the blade of Excaliber and yanking her out of her feet, throwing her aside without effort, as if her Holy Sword Skill wasn't anything but a small bothersome thing.
For just an instant, the Imp thought he saw sadness and disappointment in his eyes, before she was soaring straight towards the trees.
Why am I…so weak, now…?
"Don't be silly, Yuu. It doesn't suit you."
"…uh?" muttered Yuuki while opening her eyes, staring in confusion at the field around her, green grass and flowers filling it. In front of her, a tall tree stood, similar to the one in Aincrad's 24th Floor. And the sun shone softly over a clear blue sky, instead of the dark one that she had seen a moment ago.
With a startling realization, she recognized the place. It had been a lot of time since she last was in there, but it was without a doubt THAT place.
Serene Garden. The virtual hospice especially open for terminally ill people who used VR as a means of bettering their lives.
And it was under that tree that…
"Remember? Here is where we met Merida for the first time." turning around, the wide-eyed girl saw Aiko standing there, looking with a smile towards the sky. "We were out playing and just so happened to see that super rare bug, then you tried to catch it with just your bare hands. When she showed up and saw you with it, she seemed so shocked…"
"Aiko-nee…" whispered Yuuki taking a step forward, only dimly aware that she was once again looking like her 'real' self, wearing the same white clothes her sister was. "You're here…!"
"Answer, Yuu." interrupted her twin while looking directly at her. "Do you remember?"
"O-of course I do, Aiko-nee! How could I not?! I named that little beetle Roy…I ended up giving it to her because she had been chasing it all day…"
With a sad smile, the girl looked towards the tree, almost as if she could see the smiling visage of the other girl offering her hand to her and her sister, after introducing each other.
"…and what about your first Duel ever, Yuu? Can you remember that?" continued Aiko with a soft tone. "You were scared of even trying to hurt someone else, even if it was just a virtual world…you have really come a long way since then, uh…?"
That gave Yuuki pause, a small look of apprehension appearing on her face. She could still remember, herself as a Samurai, Merida as a Ninja and Aiko as a Miko, in the VR game called 'Asuka Empire'. How she fought her first friend in what seemed her whole life to try and stop her from doing something she thought terrifying.
Merida, the first Sleeping Knight beside them, had been a Beta Tester of Sword Art Online. In fact, she had also acquired the game and had been ready to Dive in it, ready to join again with the many friends she had in the world of swords…but that was when they detected the tumor in her brain.
In an ironic way, that had 'saved' her. She had been forbidden from using the Nerve Gear by her doctor because of how that could affect her condition, and, as such, she had been spared from being trapped inside the Floating Castle of Aincrad.
Yet, sometimes, Yuuki had seen how she actually seemed 'sad' because of it. She could still remember that first time they had silently heard her whisper those words. How that, if she would die anyway, she would prefer to do it fighting for the sake of the friends she had made back then instead of suffering in a bed.
And that day, the day of the twin's 14th birthday, she had tried to actually do it. Taking advantage of the fact that Aiko used a modified Nerve Gear on her treatment, she had tried to Log into SAO.
It had only been luck that Aiko had been fast to react and know that their friend would try and release Roy first, before going into the Death Game. There, they talked, and she managed to convince Merida to Duel against her in Asuka Empire.
It had been scary, and difficult, but she won. And she managed to transmit her feelings to Merida, who broke down crying and apologized to them, even as Yuuki told her that she was meant to live for a reason…
"Remember now?" came her sister's voice once again, making the shocked girl stare at her. "You convinced Merida that we all had a reason to live, no matter what. That even if our lives seemed hopeless, there was meaning as to why we were there, together. That's why I suggested the idea, the found the Sleeping Knights, in the first place. Because you inspired me, Yuu…and that's why I'm sorry. I'm SO sorry, of not having realizing…how much I have been hurting you all this time…"
"Wha-what are you saying, Aiko-nee?" muttered the scared girl while taking another step towards her. "Yo-you could never hurt me! If I'm where I am now, it's only because you stayed by…!"
"But I was. Don't you see, Yuu? THAT is why I have been hurting you. Because, by staying with you, even after dying…I made you lose all Hope." smiling sadly, Aiko could only stare towards her trembling twin, tears streaming down both her faces. "You no longer cared about whatever could happen to you, because you didn't mind as long as I was with you. You resigned yourself to the bitter end, only living for the sake of living, only smiling for the sake of smiling…and that's wrong, Yuu. You're stronger than that. You have always been. You can be so much more…more than we could ever dream…"
"Why…?" softly asked the youngest twin, and she suddenly found herself being hugged. Still crying, she hugged her sister back, with all her might.
"Because you're destined to greater things, Yuu. I can almost see it, now. You will be someone special, someone that will change the world. Someone that will always be surrounded by people who love her and that will always smile with them…but…"
"…no…" pleased Yuuki while holding her tighter. "…please…"
"…you have to let me go, Yuu."
"Nee-san…!"
"Shh…don't make that face. You're not a crybaby anymore, right?" chided Aiko while wiping away her twin's tears, even if she herself was crying a river. "I will still be with you, Yuu. Always. Here…" she softly touched her sister's chest, then her forehead. "…and here. As long as you remember me, I won't be a burden to you…but an inspiration. Like you were to me."
"You…you would never…be a burden to me…Aiko-nee…" sobbed Yuuki while letting go of her, staring straight to her eyes. "Never."
Konno Aiko smiled.
"I know. Now stand up, okay, Zekken? You have someone to thank to…Konno-Style."
Konno Yuuki smiled.
"I still have to hit him, though." she muttered with a small chuckle.
And then, Aiko turned into a blinding golden light, making her eyes widen as she felt it entering within herself. Suddenly, everything felt RIGHT. More than it had ever been.
"Then do so, my beloved imouto."
Kirito blinked as he turned around, his instincts flaring. It had been less than an instant, barely a second since he flung the girl away, but…he felt as if he had missed something. Something important.
The sight of Yuuki righting herself in midair and then landing on her feet as she skidded to a stop, golden aura enveloping her and Excaliber, supported his theory. The girl then raised her face, looking straight at him.
She was smiling. Despite the tears that still streamed down her eyes, she was smiling.
And there was golden fire burning in her eyes.
"Excaliber…shine." whispered the young girl while raising her sword.
The golden blade…opened. It was the only way to even remotely describe it, even if still was wrong, or at least not completely accurate.
All that the caped boy was able to grasp with his eyes was how the 'blade' of the holy sword seemed to 'scatter' away, as if it was being forcefully broken from the inside out, leaving in its place…something else.
Something that shone with such a brightness that forced the gamer to look away, and that illuminated the whole 28th Floor as if a second sun had emerged in the middle of the night, turning brighter with each second.
It exploded into a mighty pillar of pure golden light.
The World pulsed, and shifted.
Far away, in another virtual world, an entity wearing the face of a certain girl stood from her fake throne, eyes open in wonder.
Somewhere in the virtual sea, the ethereal form of a man wearing a lab coat stopped his endless wandering and turned around, surprised.
On Its Throne Above Everything, [FATE] blinked.
Back on Alfheim, Kirito turned around as the light subsided, and his eyes widened with utter shock.
Yuuki stood there…or at least, what he thought was her.
The girl's body now seemed to be…pure golden energy. As if the polygons that made up her avatar had been replaced by some ethereal golden fire, which weaved itself loosely in the shape of the Imp. Even her 'hair' flapped wildly behind her as she lowered the transformed Excaliber. The gamer's eyes shot over the blade at that.
The hilt remained the same, though it was almost hidden from sight by the transformed hands of the girl. The blade, however…it was as it if had turned into pure LIGHT. Not like Yuuki's 'new body', but something else. Like a pure expression of the very concept. Light in its most pure form, turned into a blade…
The Absolute Holy Sword opened her eyes.
Two flaring stars of pure red stared at the wide-eyed Spriggan.
"…okay, I have to accept it, out of all the things I was expecting to happen, this wasn't…"
Yuuki moved.
No, that was the wrong description. To 'move' one needed to displace from one point to another, through any means. Even in the virtual world, this applied as an absolute rule. Even the teleporting mechanics many VR games had, and that only existed in ALO in the form of Aincrad's Teleport Gates, still counted as 'moving'.
But the girl called Zekken had become, at that moment, the very concept of a Sword. A Holy One.
Kirito found himself being thrown backward and interrupted when the golden girl CUT through reality to reach and slash him at the same time.
A massive BOOM echoed when Cardinal forcefully restored the 'bug', closing the gap in virtual reality with a crushing force that only gave Yuuki's swing that much more power.
"…better."
Excaliber wasn't your usual blade. It was supposed to be nothing more than data coded in a specific way, a bunch of polygons with extremely high stats in the shape of a golden sword, that any GM could generate at will if they so wanted.
The one that previously was I Jotunheimr, the original one that had always been there, the same one that Yuuki had in her hands, however, was different. It was 'special', in a way.
A blade that represented the unbreakable bonds shared by a group of friends. A sword that was as mighty and valuable as the one wielding it was. Excaliber. 'The Caliber that Surpasses'. Someone's caliber. Someone's worth.
And the worth of its wielder never came from themselves…but from all that they represented.
Konno Yuuki had, through some impossibility, become all of that herself. At that moment, there were no longer a 'Yuuki' and an 'Excaliber'.
There was just the Absolute Holy Sword.
For good or bad, though, the caped boy couldn't know any of this, and he only made sure of digging his hands into the earth, barely managing to stop himself from falling off the floating castle. Standing up, he stared with absolute disbelief the collapsing trees and the large scars he had just made in the virtual dirt with his hands.
"…okay, know what? I'm not even going to bother questioning this." sighed him while looking down, his shoulders slumping as he shook his head. "I'm done with that."
The next instant, he spun around, his face a carpet of darkness and his eyes two infinite white voids as his raised arm clashed against the conceptual Holy Sword.
If Yuuki was surprised in the slightest that he had just blocked her swing despite her having just cut through reality to reach him, she didn't show it. Then again, that may have been a bit difficult when nothing but her red-burning eyes could properly be seen of her face.
"…so I'm just going to take this in stride. Sounds good?"
The girl grinned. Despite currently having no apparent mouth or anything that gave it away, the Spriggan just KNEW she had.
"[It does]" whispered her as an answer before Kirito blurred out of existence.
Reappearing in midair, he was already moving his arm to the left to stop the incoming slash, which crashed against his gloved arm with an explosive sound. Half a second later, however, his eyes widened as he moved his other arm to stop a swing from a SECOND Yuuki, aiming to behead him. Then, he moved his face forward and stopped the blade of the third one with his fucking teeth.
He wasn't able to stop the fourth and last one, though, and so the last of the golden girl's doppelgangers was able to slash at him with a wave of pure light.
Their blatant violation of the laws of reality done, the other Yuukis vanished, returning to the last one as if they were afterimages.
Of course, they weren't. Something that didn't 'move' couldn't leave afterimages. Instead, what the Absolute Holy Sword had done was simply cut through different levels of reality at the same time, essentially executing four attacks in the same plane of existence, even if they had only lasted for a simple instant.
Inwardly, she smiled. She was sure she could do more, with enough time, with enough effort…
"Hello! My name is Merida, it's a pleasure to meet you!"
The caped boy crashed into the earth with mighty force. The next second, he was already standing, swinging his arm to the side to block Yuuki's slash as she exited her new personal plane of reality via another 'cut'.
Unstoppable Force met Immovable Object. The results weren't pretty for the surrounding area.
Both combatants, however, felt something stirring inside them, even as they skidded back over the earth, one backpedaling at impossible speed and the other cutting inversely over reality itself.
"I will always be by your side, Yuu…"
Yuuki shot forward again, cutting through the intricate pattern that made up the virtual world as if her body was a kitchen knife and the fabric of reality was hot butter. Nothing within the laws of reasons should be able to react, let alone match, such literally dimensional-transcending reaction speed.
And yet, the gamer clad in black and white was there every time, blocking every single of her space-rending swings with just his arms.
"With this, it's official! Everyone, welcome to the Sleeping Knights!"
Moving through a blatant violation of every single law of reality, and even some of Unreality, the caped Spriggan and the golden Imp clashed all over Floor 28, creating veritable shockwaves of pure destruction every time they met.
The very world shaking and cracking each time Fist and [Sword] met didn't seem to matter for them. At that very moment, nothing seemed to exist except each other.
Crashing into the ground again, Kirito didn't realize he had a massive grin on his face even as he went FASTER, solid afterimages of the gamer intercepting Yuuki's latest attempt to reach him through cutting reality at different planes of existence.
The girl started to laugh. From pure joy and happiness.
Then, she used a Skill and a blazing arc of golden light sent the caped gamer off Aincrad, the blinking boy JUST realizing he had been so caught up in the clash that he didn't see how dangerously close to the edge he was.
"Let's do our best together, Yuuki!"
"Well, that happened…" idly commented the Spriggan as he fell like a rock, once again under the mercy of gravity as he looked up. "Now I have to…uh? Wait…is she doing…what I think she is doing…?"
"[…huh…how weird…]" muttered Yuuki with closed eyes, even as the memories of her friends kept running through her mind, both those who were gone and those that were still at her side. "[It's sad but…it doesn't hurt anymore. In fact, I feel…happy]"
Smiling at that (Despite still having no mouth), the golden girl finally swung down the holy blade, releasing the MASSIVE energy that it had suddenly accumulating into an all-encompassing blast of devastating light, that rushed straight towards the falling Kirito.
It was no simple attack of energy, though. This was more like an Order to reality itself, in the shape of a wave of light. The concept that 'Anything that faced this Light would be Destroyed'. Assured victory.
"…yeah, she's going all Excali-blast on my ass." sighed the caped boy before shaking his head, a faint smile still on his face. "Ah…the funniest thing is that I don't really miss the days when this kind of shit wasn't normal at all…"
With that said, the falling gamer reared back his fist and PUNCHED as the wave of annihilation reached him.
Yuuki was sent back, cutting through reality out of control, when an impossible force cut through her Concept-Breaking attack and threw her all the way towards the World Tree, cutting dangerously close to the eternal storm clouds that covered the tree's top. The players that were calmly spending time in Yggdrasil city blinked as they swore they saw some kind of golden shooting star passing by.
Likewise, Kirito got sent careening straight into the cold ocean in Alfheim's northeast coast. The few people flying around Gnome territory blinked in surprise at seeing a massive amount of water rise into the sky from his impact.
Little more than a second later, both warriors once again clashed, just above Alne's airspace, both of them with massive smiles on their faces. The shockwaves of conceptual blade meeting fist were barely arriving to knock down the unsuspecting players below when they vanished again, once moving at a speed not even Cardinal could properly process and the other simply cutting through reality.
Both of them shot over Salamander, Sylph and Undine territory in less than half a minute, and that because they spent way too much time clashing over each area.
BADUMP!
"[What…is this feeling…?]" excitedly thought the Transcendent Imp as she once again swung towards the caped Spriggan from four different layers of space-time, only for him to impossibly be there every time, then try and punch her, only for her to cut away out of his reach. "[…this pounding in my heart…?]"
"This…I had forgotten this!" were the thoughts of the Spriggan Hero as he tried to unleash an uppercut towards Yuuki, only for her to break apart upon the attack and the real one to swing Excaliber to his back, which he intercepted with a well-placed backhand. "Since the SAO Beta…this feeling…! Without a doubt this is…!"
For the gamer's part, nothing in the last years had made him feel like this. Not even fighting Xaxa or Heathcliff, because, in both cases, he had been forced to do so, with lives or something equally dangerous or important on the line. But now, here, against the young girl that was transcending any and all limits just to try and beat him, out of her will and decision alone…
And for the hospitalized girl, nothing had ever felt similar at that moment. An absolute freedom that came to her very soul every time her singing blade met the boy's mighty punches, a melody echoing into her flame-like body as their grinning visages met each other every time…
"[Ah…maybe this is…?]"
Kirito grinned.
"…the exhilaration of a REAL FIGHT!"
"[…love?]"
The fighters finally came out of their daze as they exploded into motion somewhere over Caith Sith territory. Their burning gazes crossed again as the girl ascended and the boy fell.
The Imp turned around, or more like 'cut reality backward', in midair, like a meteor, rearing back her conceptual blade as she prepared herself for what she knew would be the last exchange.
The Spriggan landed and, his feet barely touching the ground, catapulted back into the air with a speed that broke reality around him, a massive crater appearing in the forest below several seconds AFTER he had already moved, his fist reared back.
"Consecutive…!"
"[Mother's Rosario!]" screamed Yuuki with a voice that ordered the World to obey, stabbing reality into 11 different directions, every stab in a different layer of existence, all within the same compression of space-time.
A titanic cross of golden light, visible from every single corner of ALO, turned the virtual night into day, burning like a newborn star. On the Caith Sith's capital, the closest one to the phenomenon, the leaders Alicia Rue and Sakuya (That were having a meeting to drink and share stories) looked on with a raised eyebrow before shrugging and continuing their talk.
They both knew it was probably something Kirito-related, after all.
And on the heart of the glorious cross of pure devastation…
"…NORMAL PUNCHES!"
…reality cracked apart, as gaping holes the size of trucks appeared over its center, cracks spreading over its edges. The beautiful visage of golden light exploded and vanished upon facing a superior force, which violated the logic of reality in an even superior way than it.
In the middle of the collapsing shower of golden dust, Yuuki the Imp fell down, once again looking normal and missing her left arm, even as the right one tightly gripped Excaliber's once again 'closed' form. An idle look to her HUD's side revealed how she had exactly 1 HP left, but she did not care about that absurd impossibility.
She was too busy smiling as she fell from the heavens, closing her eyes as she did so. That had been, without a doubt, the best fight of her life.
Her red orbs shot open when she felt a pair of strong arms grasping her falling body, though, only to meet the widely smiling form of a caped gamer as he held her bridal style.
"Nice fight." complimented Kirito as the golden dust kept falling around them. "You were amazing, Yuuki."
"Heh…don't try and make me feel better." ribbed the swordswoman while playfully hitting his shoulder with her holy blade. "You weren't even really trying, right?"
"Maybe…"
Even as the boy started saying those words, a gust of wind made his cape flap and the Imp felt her eyes widen as she was unable to contain a gasp.
The white and long piece of clothing was tattered and broken, less than half of it remaining, though the gamer didn't seem to care in the slightest.
"…but it still was an amazing fight."
"…'The One who Guides'." came Yuuki's soft voice as she looked at him, making the Spriggan blink. "That's what the kanji for 'Sensei' literally means. I think I understand now, why Asuna calls you that…" softly, she let her head rest against his chest. "Thanks, Kirito."
"…you're welcome, Yuuki." replied the gamer as he stared forward, towards the beautiful fight of the golden dust scattering through the air over Caith Sith's territory. "…by the way, Yuuki…"
"Yeah?"
"…could you please not tell Asuna anything about this?" pleaded Kirito with a frankly scared look on his face. "We both know why I did it, but I'm sure she would skin me alive if she knew I tried to 'seriously' hit you."
The Imp blinked owlishly at him at that. Then, she broke out into open laughter. Hah, as if every single player in Alfheim Online that had been Logged in the last half an hour didn't already know of their fight.
"…aahahah…ye-yes, o-of course, Ki, hahah, Kirito, hahah…!"
"…uhm…you know I'm not joking, right?"
As they kept falling under the vanishing golden dust, the young girl's laughter intensified.
Meanwhile, in the real world, on a secluded and highly secret location, Seijirou Kikuoka stared silently at a screen in front of him, his hands crossed under his nose as his glasses reflected the dim light.
After Kazuto made his outrageous request the day before, the bespectacled man had been looking into all the info he could get about Konno Yuuki and the hospital she was in, as only someone of his influence and position could.
The interesting bit, though, was that how, roughly 15 minutes ago, an unusual spike of electric activity had been detected on the network, with a reading that made absolutely no sense. Of course, unlike the one that had come from the SAO Servers at the end of the Death Game, this one had only been felt by those who had equipment especially dedicated to such things.
And Kikuoka had followed the source of it to the Yokohama North General Hospital. The same one in which the girl that was the tester for the Medicuboid was in.
Seijirou had long ago stopped believing in coincidences. Since the time he participated in Sword Art Online's Beta Test, to be more precise.
"Well then…I guess it couldn't hurt see what Kirigaya-kun expects to get out of this…" sentenced the government officer before grabbing his phone and dialing a certain number, quickly switching to his 'cheerful and relatable' voice. "Oh! Hello, am I talking with Kurahashi Kaito, from the Yokohama North General Hospital? Yes? Well, you see, Dr. Kurahashi, I'm a member of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and I wanted to ask you about…"
And as the night rolled forward, the World shifted once again.
Bleeding and broken, Reality laughed towards the heavens.
On Its Throne Above Everything, [FATE]'s metaphorical eyebrows twitched.
Things were truly starting to get out of hand…
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NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW!
"Heeey, everyone! This is Alicia Rue, here to give you all the next chapter's preview! Oh? Are you surprised about me doing this? Well, that's because I and Sakuya are actually showing up in the next episode, so I was pretty excited about this. Okay then, let's do it! Next time on 'One Punch-Gamer': 'Death Fairies Battle!' The time of the year everyone has been waiting for has come, to decide the bravest and most skilled warrior of Alfheim! Gather you all, fairies of the 9 races, and fight, fight and fight till only the strongest one is left!...heheh, I wonder if we will see Kirito around the-?"
END OF THE PREVIEW!
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