Alicization Rising Read online

  A ferocious smile was plastered on Kirito’s pale, excited face as he moved, a single being of man and sword. The strategy was to stick close to prevent her from using the Solus attack, but at this point, he just seemed to be enjoying unleashing his swordfighting skill.

  But Fanatio had no need to indulge him. She could have one of her knights attack Kirito from behind, then pull back and use her beams. He would have no defense against that.

  Yet the Integrity Knight with the long black hair seemed to be determined to beat him at his own game. Eugeo couldn’t guess what her reasons were. Was it anger at Kirito’s taunts? Because her pride wouldn’t allow her to back away? Or did she, too, find some value in trading combination attacks at the very limits of possibility?

  Eugeo couldn’t see Fanatio’s face from his position, so he didn’t know what kind of expression she was wearing. Based on what had been said, Fanatio seemed to have been an Integrity Knight serving the Church for at least 130 years, if not longer. It was an amount of time that Eugeo, who was not yet nineteen years old, could scarcely fathom.

  So he had no way of knowing how many years ago she started hiding her face and gender, but if she had developed these combinations skills all on her own, it had to be over ten or twenty years. The only reason Kirito could keep up with Fanatio was that he was an expert practitioner of the rare Aincrad style. Any other swordsman would have been crushed flat without getting in a single swipe.

  So perhaps Kirito was actually the first opponent Fanatio had ever been able to exhibit her utmost abilities against.

  Based on the examples of Eldrie and Deusolbert, even the Integrity Knights prized the beauty and gallantry of the single attack. It was hard to imagine that Fanatio could utilize her combination skills in training against the other knights. For a long, long time, she had trained in secret against the imaginary shadow of another wielder of these arts—a shadow that now had flesh and blood in the person of Kirito.

  As their superhuman duel continued, Eugeo eventually realized that all the hair on his body was standing on end, and his eyes were brimming with tears.

  Ever since he started learning the Aincrad style with Kirito, he had been envisioning an ultimate form of battle that was now realized before him. This was not the practiced beauty of the principled aesthetic but the stark allure that could only result from the ultimate fixation on cutting down the enemy, and nothing else.

  Five consecutive thrusts from Fanatio met five consecutive slashes from Kirito, and with each rebound they brought their weapons back around with even greater fury.

  “Ryaaaa!”

  “Seyaaaa!”

  The shock waves of their weapons intersecting felt hot on Eugeo’s skin, even from where he lay on the floor a considerable distance away. Their black hair danced and flew, metal snarled, and they switched spots, back and forth.

  When Fanatio’s face finally came into view, Eugeo’s breath caught in his throat.

  She had the pure beauty of a holy woman from fairy tales come to life. By appearance, she couldn’t have been more than in her mid-twenties, with smooth skin the color of tea mixed with plenty of milk. Her arched brows and long lashes were black, but her irises were a light brown very close to gold. She appeared to come from the eastern region, with a slender-bridged nose and a rounded chin that added softness to her beauty. Her small lips had just the faintest tinge of red.

  There was none of the lethal fury in her features that he’d felt earlier. Instead, there was simply determination, enclosing and protecting a kind of pain.

  “Ah, I see,” said Fanatio in her smooth voice as their swords crossed. “Sinner, you are not like the others I have fought until today. No man has ever looked upon this cursed visage and truly attempted to kill me.”

  “Cursed, huh? Then who are you combing your hair and wearing lipstick for?” Kirito taunted. But Fanatio merely grimaced.

  “For over a hundred years, I have waited in hope that the man I love might seek something in me other than my skill with the sword and the number of heads I bring him. But after pining behind my mask for so long, and then tasting defeat at the hands of a newer knight more beautiful than me, who bothered not to hide her features…I could not help but seek a touch of cosmetics.”

  A knight more beautiful and mighty than Fanatio. A woman.

  The thought of yet more powerful knights in the tower gave Eugeo the chills, but then he realized that he knew of an Integrity Knight who fit the description. A recent knight who did not wear a helmet, and who had dispatched him with a single blinding strike—Alice Synthesis Thirty.

  Kirito must have felt something in her words, too, but he kept his face an utter mask as he demanded, “What is the most important thing to you? If all the Integrity Knights do is obey the pontifex’s orders, then there shouldn’t be any room in your heart for love or jealousy. I don’t know who this man is, but if you’ve been in love with him for a hundred years…then it’s because you’re human. You’re just as human as me. I’m fighting to destroy the Church and your leader so that human beings like you can fall in love and lead happy lives!”

  Even Eugeo was stunned by this speech. Kirito was always so aloof; he had no idea his partner was thinking about such deep concepts. But Eugeo also sensed his friend was grappling with himself as well.

  For just an instant, Fanatio’s expression twisted.

  When a deep furrow appeared on her smooth forehead, he wondered if her Piety Module would emerge the way Eldrie’s did, but it was only the number-two Integrity Knight’s extreme reaction.

  “…Child, you have no idea what kind of hell this world will be plunged into without the might of the Axiom Church…Day by day, the Dark Territory amasses its forces. They bristle just beyond the boundary of the End Mountains. Yes, I admit that you are strong. And you are not an agent of darkness or a wicked intruder, contrary to what the prime senator claimed. But you are still dangerous. You threaten the Church and its knights not just with your sword but your words as well. In the face of our greatest duty, to protect the human realm and those who dwell in it, my feelings of love are but chaff in the dirt.”

  She looked stern and resolute, all reservations cast aside. All throughout her long speech, the Heaven-Piercing Blade and the black sword creaked and screamed at maximum volume. If either combatant pulled back even the tiniest amount, they would surely be thrown off balance.

  Even as they struggled, the life of the two swords was dropping. If the deadlock continued, the Heaven-Piercing Blade would give out first. Among Divine Objects with similar rank, the larger and thicker weapon always had more life to begin with.

  Naturally, Fanatio would be aware of this. She knew that if her sword gave out and left her open to attack, Kirito would slice her without mercy or hesitation.

  “And that is why I must defeat you—even if it means trampling upon my pride as a knight. Mock me for winning with a shameful technique. You have that right,” she muttered. Then she bellowed, “Hidden light of the Heaven-Piercing Blade, cast off your shackles!! Release Recollection!!”

  That was it—the command to unleash its greatest power!

  The silver blade shone brighter than it ever had.

  An instant later…

  Bwaash! A multitude of beams streamed outward from the tip of the weapon. A blinding attack, was Eugeo’s first reaction. It was a way to rob Kirito of vision and throw him off balance so that she could strike.

  But that possibility was ruled out when one of the beams in the omnidirectional spray landed on the stone floor right next to Eugeo and gouged deep into the marble.

  That’s no blinding technique—they’re all the same beams! Kirito!! Eugeo thought desperately, sitting upright. Just at that moment, one of the beams was about to pierce Kirito’s right arm. And in fact, there were charred black holes on his left shoulder and right thigh already.

  Kirito wasn’t the only one who was suffering from the superheated light.

  Even Fanatio, the very owner of the Heave
n-Piercing Blade, received ugly holes on the armor over her stomach, shoulders, and legs. The punctures looked even deeper than Kirito’s. And yet there wasn’t a single shred of anything but determination in her proud features.

  The Integrity Knight Fanatio Synthesis Two was going to put a stop to Kirito, and she would sacrifice her life to do so.

  Eugeo recalled what the previous pontifex, Cardinal, had said. The Release Recollection command summoned all of the weapon’s memories and unleashed its wildest power. Power that was enough to destroy not just the enemy but the wielder as well.

  The unleashed Heaven-Piercing Blade’s initial volley inflicted nearly fatal wounds on the two directly in its presence, and it caused at least minor damage to the other four knights at a distance. The stately, impressive decorations in the Great Hall were hideously blasted and charred, and expensive glass windows shattered left and right. Few of the lights reached Eugeo or the two paralyzed girls beside him, but eventually they would get hit.

  The lights shone and shone from the tip, but the weapon forged of a thousand mirrors showed no signs of stopping. Every second, the tip of the sword flashed, sending out short bursts of light in every direction. Half went up into the air, hitting the walls, pillars, and ceiling, but many of those that traveled downward naturally landed on the two people closest to the source.

  Without letting up any pressure on the intersection of the swords, Kirito craned and darted his head out of the way of any beams threatening to hit his brow. More light-headed for Fanatio’s face, but the Integrity Knight did not budge. A beam brushed her cheek, gouging a deep red furrow into her spotless skin and evaporating a lock of her full black hair.

  “You…colossal idiot!!” Kirito screamed. A spray of blood shot from his mouth. No matter how much life Kirito had, there was no question about being in danger of running out, given the damage he was taking. But the swordsman in black refused to falter. He slid his sword up so the side of it covered the beam-emitting point of the Heaven-Piercing Blade.

  Brief as this moment was, it succeeded in blocking all of the light that was shooting at Kirito and Fanatio.

  Now—now is the moment!

  Kirito did not give an explicit signal, but Eugeo’s senses of reason and intuition both told him that the time had come.

  Fanatio and her four knights, who held up their greatswords like shields, were too busy with the light beams to pay any attention to the other guilty party. No one was going to take advantage of the moment of weakness when Eugeo activated his Perfect Control.

  He leaped up with tremendous force and drew the Blue Rose Sword he’d been cradling beneath his stomach the entire time.

  “Enhance—”

  In midair, he spun the handle so that it pointed down, added his left hand to the hilt, and thrust it into the marble floor with all his strength.

  “—Armament!!”

  Nearly half of the pale-blue blade sank into the stone.

  Craaakk!! With an earsplitting bursting sound, the marble was instantly covered in white frost.

  Sharp, crystalline pillars thrust upward in a wave of ice that swelled forth. Within five seconds of launching, the ten-mel-wide ice wave had swallowed up the feet of Kirito, Fanatio, and the four other knights.

  At last, the quartet of knights noticed the anomaly. Their helmeted heads turned to look in his direction.

  But it was too late.

  Eugeo clenched the sword with all his strength and screamed, “Roses—bloom!!”

  Instantly, countless vines of pale-blue ice sprang up around the feet of the knights, Fanatio, and Kirito. Each one was only the width of a pinkie finger, but every single tendril bristled with sharp thorns that dug into the legs of their prey.

  “Rrgh…”

  “Wh-what is this?!”

  The knights exclaimed their surprise. By then, the icy vines were climbing up their legs and to their waists and bellies. One knight belatedly tried to sever the vines with his greatsword, but the moment the weapon touched the ice, more vines wrapped around it and sewed it to the ground.

  The vines covered the knights from toes to fingertips to head, turning them into immobile ice sculptures. The ice creaked as it snaked upward, firming its grasp on its prey, and then, with the crisp ringing like a bell, it sprouted a multitude of dark-blue roses.

  They were all ice, of course. There was no nectar or scent coming from the hard, crystalline buds, only freezing white mist. Soon the air in the hall was filled with it: a thick, sparkling haze. The source powering the chill was the very life of the captured knights.

  The drain on their life was slow, but there was no way to summon the strength to break the chains of ice while the roses sucked it away. This sacred art was not designed for killing foes. Eugeo had settled on this particular effect for the purpose of immobilizing Alice.

  The four knights were completely neutralized, but their worthy leader was sharp enough to intuit the nature of the attack as soon as the vines started breaking through the frost on the floor, and she jumped away to evade them.

  But Kirito’s reflexes were even quicker, aided by his prior understanding of Eugeo’s technique. Improbably enough, he not only leaped earlier than Fanatio, but he landed on her shoulder armor to leap a second time farther away. He did a somersault in the air to distance himself from the vines of ice, spreading a fine spray of blood as he went.

  The pressure of his jump pushed Fanatio back to the floor, where she landed on one knee and was immediately surrounded by the ice.

  “Rrgh…!”

  Her concentration faltered, and the indiscriminate shower of light beams from her sword succeeded in severing a few of the vines before it fell silent. Her hideously damaged purple armor was wreathed in fine tendrils, then covered in thick ice.

  Blue roses sprouted up her body, the last one appearing right over the wound on her cheek. The penultimate Integrity Knight and her divine weapon stilled completely.

  Kirito continued his backward leaps and flips to evade the ice vines, despite the terrible injuries all over his body. Eventually he lost his balance on a landing and fell right next to Eugeo.

  “Grf…”

  A little cough emerged from deep in his throat, spraying out an alarming amount of blood. It soon froze over into crimson frost, to Eugeo’s alarm.

  “Kirito…hang on, I’ll use a healing art on you…!”

  “No! Don’t stop the technique!” Kirito demanded, eyes flashing despite the loss of color in his skin. “That isn’t enough to stop her…”

  Flecks of blood around his lips, he used the black sword as a crutch to hold his battered body upright. After wiping his mouth, closing his eyes, and getting his breath under control, Kirito glared and held his sword aloft.

  “System…Call!!”

  Given the state of his body, the speed of his desperate chanting was really remarkable. Between every command was a bloodcurdling wheeze, and occasionally a bit of crimson spittle flecked from the corner of his lips. But still he continued to recite the dozen-plus commands of the art.

  Up close, the sight of the numerous marks on Kirito’s body was ghastly. The light from the Heaven-Piercing Blade had punctured him everywhere, and the wounds were charred and black. The only upside was that he hadn’t lost much blood, but several of the beams had pierced his organs. His life was dropping faster than the knights trapped by the ice roses, and he needed help immediately.

  But Eugeo couldn’t let go of the hilt of his sword if he wanted to maintain his hold on the Perfect Control arts. Kirito might have been able to heal himself, but he was so viciously focused on his recitation that it was clear he had no such intention.

  You don’t need to rush, Kirito. Those knights won’t break their cages of ice that quickly, Eugeo thought, looking up at the soldiers ahead.

  Just then, a beam of light shot from the midst of the profusion of ice roses and stuck in the wall. He was so startled that he grunted, “Wha…”

  The source of the light was Fanatio, wh
o should have been completely immobilized under all those vines of ice.

  Perfect Weapon Control wasn’t some infinite power once the sacred art was cast. In order to control the expanded power of the weapon, the caster expended considerable concentration. Eugeo had to clutch the hilt of the sword stuck into the floor and continue envisioning the wild sprouting roses in order to maintain his prison of ice.

  Fanatio had unleashed her sword’s Perfect Control, fired sunrays, engaged in a light-speed battle with Kirito, then unleashed indiscriminate beams all over and suffered nearly fatal wounds for it. Her concentration should have been shot, and her control over the Heaven-Piercing Blade gone.

  And yet…

  The slender weapon covered in ice and clutched in Fanatio’s right hand was slowly moving, creaking and crackling. Before Eugeo’s stunned eyes, a wisp of steam, like the essence of her fighting spirit, rose from the knight’s body.

  “Rrgh…!”

  He bit his lip and clutched the hilt of his sword even harder. Guided by this image, ten or so fresh vines of ice rose around Fanatio. They struck her right arm like whips and wrapped around it, forcing her to be still.

  But that lasted for only a second. The knight shrugged off the clinging thorns of ice and forced her arm down. Nearly half of the azure vines shattered and spilled to the ground.

  A chill colder than ice ran down Eugeo’s back.

  Is she even human?

  Kirito was exhibiting tremendous force of will with his bloody recitation, but this woman was beyond even him. The uncontrollable light-beam attack had riddled her with holes, and the ice roses were mercilessly draining her life—and yet she still did not fall. Instead, she was ripping herself free from the chains of ice that her companion knights were helpless to stop, using nothing but the strength of one arm.

  With horror, Eugeo noticed that the Heaven-Piercing Blade in her hand was steadily changing angle to point in their direction.

  What was giving Fanatio so much strength?