Sword Art Online Volume 17 - Alicization Awakening Read online

  Chapter 20

  Each of their Battles

  7 July 2026 / Eighth Day1 of the Eleventh Month of the Human Empire Calendar, 380

  1

  5:00 a.m.

  More than 3,000 players gathered in a great dome in the World Tree that stood in the heart of Alne City, at the center of the world of ALfheim Online.

  The winged knight monsters defending the dome’s roof gate had been removed.2 Instead, the nine fairy races now used this space to meet and negotiate, or as a venue for events.

  Only four players were facing the roughly 3,000 other players who had been gathered to this large, inconvenient meeting.

  The hulking Gnome Agil, Salamander samurai Klein, Cait Sith beast tamer Silica, and Leprechaun blacksmith Lisbeth — partners of the «Black Swordsman» Kirito, who was still diving in «Underworld», yet to awaken.

  At 4:20 a.m., when Klein and Lisbeth had been sending out in-game messages to every single friend on their lists, there were only three Lord-class players online. But, while pleading with them and their subordinate officers, they resorted to the taboo method of begging them to contact other players in real life. As a result, all of the players currently in the square had managed to assemble in just 40 minutes.

  In this sizable, hemispherical space, nearly 30% of the floating or standing players were using newly created accounts.

  They were certainly not new to VRMMOs, however. They were veterans of other The Seed games, diving here by request of friends who had ALO accounts.

  In other words, the 3,000 people gathered in this World Tree dome were the elites of the elites among Japanese VRMMO players. They were the final hope of Yui, the top-down AI: they were the only force that could save the Human Empire Defense Army in Underworld.

  In the hushed dome, the Leprechaun blacksmith Lisbeth’s magically amplified voice continued to broadcast emotionally.

  “… What I’m telling you guys is not a lie, nor a joke! A Japanese research organization has used our national budget and The Seed to build a virtual world called «Underworld», and thousands of American players who know nothing about it are about to dive in and massacre the residents inside!”

  Lisbeth felt embarrassed at her own nationalistic tone, but remained encouraged by reassuring herself that was only to her advantage; she continued shouting:

  “The residents of Underworld aren’t just NPCs! They are true artificial intelligence, born from the data of the countless VRMMO worlds that you’ve all been playing in! They have emotions like we do, they have souls like we do! Please, to protect them, please lend us your strength! Please convert the character data that you all are currently using into Underworld!”

  Ending her five minute speech, Lisbeth surveyed the players, and hoped.

  The crowd of fairy faces only looked confused. Of course, there was no way they could immediately understand just by suddenly hearing all of this. Even Lisbeth herself still found it hazy after listening to Yui’s explanation of Underworld’s structure, and the «Artificial Fluctlights» living within.

  An elegant hand rose out of the shocked, clamoring players.

  Sylph Lord Sakuya came walking out, her slender body wrapped in green robes.

  “Lisbeth. I don’t think that you and your friends would do all of this just as a prank, and what’s more, there must be something big if even that Kirito boy hasn’t logged in for ten days. But…”

  Sakuya’s fluent and calm voice wavered in perplexity.

  “… To be honest, it’s difficult to believe this all of a sudden. There exists AI with human souls, and the American military is trying to seize them…? It’s all terribly far-fetched… Of course, to prove your words, we’d only have to log in and see for ourselves… But you just mentioned that diving into «Underworld» involves a few problems, right? Could you explain them first?”

  — This moment has finally come.

  Lisbeth took a deep breath, and closed her eyes for a moment.

  This is the moment of truth. If I fail here, no one will come help us at all.

  Snapping her eyes open and giving a sweeping look to Sakuya, the other Lords in front of her, and the countless players, Lisbeth replied adamantly:

  “Okay. — Underworld doesn’t operate like a normal VRMMO game at all, so there’ll be a few problems when you dive into it. First of all, there’s no controllable UI in Underworld. In other words, you can’t log out on your own.”

  The hubbub suddenly became louder.

  Can’t log out on your own; was this not a phrase that conjured images of that death game from the past, «Sword Art Online»? These days, all games built off The Seed, including ALO, provided two ways of logging out: either by controlling the UI or through a voice command.

  “The only way to log out is to ‘die’ inside. But that brings me to the second problem. In Underworld… there’s no Pain Absorber. If you take heavy damage that reduces your HP to zero, you should feel rather severe pain.”

  The uproar grew even louder.

  Pain isolation was a compulsory feature of any modern VR server. In virtual worlds without this function, getting slashed by a sword or burnt with fire would hurt as intensely as it would in the real world. Depending on the circumstances, bruises might even appear on one’s physical skin.

  Yet there was a far more severe problem that came with this dive.

  Waiting until the disturbance subsided slightly, Lisbeth then informed the players of the third and greatest sacrifice.

  “— One more. Underworld servers are currently in a state where even the developers can’t operate them. Which means… we can’t guarantee that everyone’s character data can be converted back to their original games… In some situations, the characters themselves might even be lost.”

  After a short pause —

  Terrifyingly loud roars of fury flooded the vast dome.

  Lisbeth, Klein, Silica and Agil lined up in the middle of the floor, with Yui standing on Klein’s shoulder in her tiny pixie form; standing silently, their bodies endured the wave of voices that lashed at them from all directions.

  This reaction was exactly what they had expected.

  The 3,000 top players had spent inordinate amounts of time and effort raising their characters. For ALO, they had spent hours furiously slaying monsters that yielded only one experience point; it was repeating the mundane task of emptying a lake with a bucket, day after day.

  How could they remain silent upon being told that there was a chance of losing the characters they had built by infusing their entire spirit into them?

  “Y… You’re fuckin’ kidding me!!” A player who ran out of the crowd shouted, jabbing his index finger at Lisbeth.

  He was a Salamander dressed in crimson full-body armor, carrying a battleaxe on his back. He appeared to be a Commander-level player just below Lord Mortimer and General Eugene.

  Pushing up his helmet visor and exposing his eyes that scorched with rage, the Salamander bellowed in a voice loud enough to shut up the entire group behind him:

  “You gather everyone here and tell us to dive into some fishy server; that’s already pretty ridiculous. Now you’re telling me about character loss?! How the fuck are you gonna pay us back if they’re gone forever?! Or is this just a trap to weaken our entire race?!”

  “……… Gurgh!”

  Lisbeth stuck out an arm to stop a red-faced Klein from jumping forward, and tried her best to reply calmly:

  “I’m sorry, we can’t. I know very well that the characters you’ve trained are priceless. That’s why we’re pleading you to help us… All I’m saying is, please help our friends in Underworld, they’re
putting their lives on the line to defend against the Americans’ attack.”

  Even though she was not shouting anymore, Lisbeth’s voice still carried across the entire dome. The Salamander seemed to hold in his anger for a moment, but suddenly it came sputtering out furiously again.

  “The ‘friends’ you talk about are just the SAO survivors, aren’t they?! Those guys who make that face that screams ‘I’m super special’! I know all of it, you original SAO lot have always looked down on us!!”

  Now it was Lisbeth’s turn to be speechless.

  Lisbeth had never once had thoughts like those the Salamander was accusing her of. But come to think of it, she could not be entirely sure that such a mentality had never come to her. Having situated her player home within floating New Aincrad instead of a town on the ground, she almost never went below and talked only to her old friends; that much was true.

  The Salamander continued relentlessly, as though seeing through Lisbeth’s hesitation:

  “Who cares about artificial intelligence, or national secrets?! Don’t get too cocky and bring real world shit into a VRMMO! You can go by yourself for that kind of stuff! Isn’t that better, you splendid, noble Great Survivor?!!”

  Yeah, get lost; curses like those began to rouse the crowd.

  — I can’t do it.

  My words can’t get through to them at all.

  Lisbeth couldn’t help but feel tears welling up as she looked imploringly towards the strong, native ALO players whom she knew well — Sylph Lord Sakuya, Salamander General Eugene, and Cait Sith Lord Alicia Rue.

  Even though their eyes met hers, they remained silent.

  Their blazing gazes merely stared at Lisbeth unswervingly. As though they were saying, show us your determination.

  Lisbeth took a deep breath, and shut her eyes tightly. She thought of Asuna, who would be desperately fighting at this very moment; Kirito, who was injured; Leafa and Sinon, who had rushed ahead into Underworld.

  — At my level, even if I convert over, I won’t be able to fight like Asuna and everyone else. But there must be something I can do. Right now, this place is my battlefield.

  Forcing her eyes open and wiping away her tears, Lisbeth began her speech:

  “… Yes, I brought some real world stuff here. And, as you said, those who emerge from SAO may find it very easy to mix up reality and virtual reality. However, I’m very certain that we’ve never thought of ourselves as heroes.”

  Gripping Silica’s hand, who stood teary-eyed to her right, she continued:

  “She and I currently attend a special school for the survivors you mentioned. We have no choice, since our previous schools had already dismissed us in the middle of the year. — All of the students in the survivors’ school have to attend counseling sessions every month. They monitor our brain waves with AmuSpheres, and we’re asked lots of uncomfortable questions like, ‘Have you lost your sense of reality’, or, ‘Do you want to harm other people’. There are children who have been forced to drink medicines they hate. To the government, we’re a reserve army of criminals that needs constant supervision.”

  Sometime during her speech, the waves of fury had calmed, and a tense silence took over the dome. Even the Salamander had widened his eyes in surprise.

  Lisbeth had no idea where the flow of her speech should terminate. She was only desperately converting her unstoppable emotions and thoughts into words:

  “But… to be honest, the old SAO players aren’t the only ones who are treated like this. All VRMMO players are viewed this way, more or less. Some say we’re just a heavy load on society who contribute nothing, some say we’re escapists who don’t pay taxes and pensions… There have even been calls for a return to conscription, just to force us to serve society!”

  Lisbeth could feel the surging anxiety of the thousands of players. If only she poked it with a needle, rage twice as intense than before would erupt.

  But Lisbeth placed her left hand on her chest, and continued to shout:

  “But I know! And I believe! This is reality!!”

  Her arms motioned towards her surroundings — towards the whole of Alfheim.

  “This world, and the many other virtual worlds connected to it, are obviously not imaginary places that we escape to! To me, there are real lives here, real friends, real laughter, tears, encounters, and farewells… This is ‘reality’!! I’m not alone, am I?! It’s because we believe this world is another reality that we try as hard as we do, right?! Yet, if we see this as only a game, as only a virtual world, and abandon it, then where is our ‘reality’…?!!”

  Unable to hold them back any longer, Lisbeth felt tears rolling down her face. But she did not wipe them away, and squeezed out her last words:

  “… The numerous worlds that everyone raised; they came together like this World Tree, and the tree has grown. Now that the blossom called Underworld has finally bloomed, I want to protect it! Please, I beg of you… lend your strength to us…!!”

  Lisbeth reached out towards the roof of the dome.

  In her vision trembling with tears, phosphorescence sparkled, falling from thousands of fairy wings.

  ***

  A brilliant silver light drew a long, bright arc in the dawn.

  A second later, with a dry snap, a thick rope was severed, and danced in the air like a black serpent. The tens of enemy soldiers hanging from the rope were plunged into the bottomless valley, howling. The «Twin Edged Wings», the Divine Instrument that had cut the rope, turned in a sharp curve and returned to the hands of Integrity Knight Renri Synthesis Twenty-Seven.

  Although Renri had already quickly cut five of the ten ropes set up by the Dark Territory army to cross the valley, his face showed no sense of accomplishment or pride. Rather, he seemed like he was being tormented by the merciless order to sever the literal lifelines of the enemy soldiers, who were sacrificing themselves to cross the valley.

  The same went for Asuna, who was beside Renri and clutched the reins atop a white horse.

  When Asuna, Renri, Integrity Knight Alice Synthesis Thirty, Integrity Knight Sheyta Synthesis Twelve, and Integrity Knight Commander Bercouli Synthesis One arrived on horseback, hundreds of enemy soldiers had already crossed the valley, and began valiantly attacking them to protect the remaining ropes. A great number of enemies were killed by the three foremost Knights: Bercouli, Sheyta, and Alice. A few tried to flank Renri from the side, forcing Asuna to swing her own sword.

  In the virtual world «Underworld», based on the The Seed program, Sword Skills and Horse Riding from the SAO era were still usable.

  Not only that, Asuna was using the Super Account «Stacia, Goddess of Creation», whose every parameter was very close to the upper limit; in addition, the specs of her equipped rapier, «Radiant Light», were beyond that of the Integrity Knights’ Divine Instruments. Therefore, even «Linear», a basic Sword Skill, could easily pierce through a Dark Knight’s armor or a Fist Fighter’s hulking frame.

  Nevertheless, the blood spraying from enemies’ wounds, their aggrieved screams, and their lost lives, were all real.

  The people of Underworld, whether they came from the Human Empire or the Dark Land, all possessed souls of exactly the same nature as Asuna’s — Fluctlights.

  Her opponents were unquestionably real people just like her, yet they could be killed in one strike just because of some game-like status values and weapon specifications; this truth gave rise to an unbearable pain and dreadful feeling to Asuna’s heart.

  What was more, despite how they charged forward with tragic resolve, it was clear that the Dark Knights and Fist Fighters were not doing so of their own volition.

  These Artificial Fluctlights possessed the trait of being utterly unable to resist their superior’s orders. Under the command of «Vector, God of Darkness», a real world human using a Super Account like Asuna, they continued their attack despite everything, even knowing that they were dying in vain. In another sense, they were but victims, dragged into a real world
battle over technology.

  But Asuna still strove with all her might to dispel this thought from her mind.

  Right now, her utmost priority was to protect the «Radiant Medium» Alice, whom Vector was pursuing — and Kirito, who was in the encampment behind them.

  She’d heard that the only human resources left in the Dark Territory army were these Fist Fighters and Dark Knights. If they could take advantage of this reckless valley crossing operation and erode their main force, Vector would be left helpless.

  “— All right, the sixth one next!!”

  Integrity Knight Bercouli’s firm, vigorous voice carried over and disrupted Asuna’s train of thought. Only after Alice, Sheyta, and Renri immediately replied to acknowledge, did Asuna follow suit.

  Just as they turned their horses around and prepared to move west, the sharp blast of a horn came from behind.

  At a backward glance, they could see the Guardians3 of the Human Empire decoy squad atop a hill a kilometer away, surging down in orderly formation.

  Having completed their preparations just fifteen minutes after the Integrity Knights did, they were coming from the encampment to assist.

  “They’re such… a restless bunch.”

  Bercouli’s words were bitter, but since nearly 500 Fist Fighters had successfully crossed the valley, it wasn’t a bad time for reinforcements to arrive. As long as the Guardians could hold off the enemy army, cutting the last five ropes would be much simpler.

  — Seems like we’ve won this battle, Vector-san.

  Asuna said softly in her heart —

  Before she could finish, a peculiar phenomenon entered her vision.

  Against the blood-red rising sun, mysterious objects began to fall from high in the sky.

  Red lines. Not just one. Tens… Hundreds.

  No, thousands.

  The lines seemed to consist of tiny dots, linked together. Squinting her eyes, she saw that each dot was either a number, or a letter from the English alphabet.

  These mysterious bunches of lines poured silently down onto their side of the valley, roughly one or two kilometers east of the battlefield.