No one's POV

Standing on the stairs were two girls, dressed in identical black outfits. They looked to be around ten. Eugeo felt a flash of fond reminiscence and then realized it was because their plain black clothes looked a little bit like the apprentice habit that Alice's sister, Selka, wore back at the church in Rulid.

But unlike Selka, these girls had green belts with thirty-cen swords attached. For an instant, he felt his hackles rise, but just as soon, he noticed that the blades and hilts were made of reddish wood. While the coloring was different, they looked just like the little wooden swords every child used to practice.

The girl on the right had her light-brown hair tied into two braids. Her eyebrows sloped downward over her round eyes, giving her a weak-willed look. The girl on the left had straw-blond hair cut short, and her eyes were sharp and triumphant.

To no surprise, the first of the two to step forward was the bolder-looking one on the left. She took a deep breath and abruptly introduced herself.

???: Um... I'm... no... I'm Fizel, an Axiom Church sister-in-training. And this is my fellow sister-in-training.

???: I-I'm Linel.

Their youthful voices wavered a bit at the end due to nerves. Eugeo smiled to put them at ease, but then he realized that if they were holy women in the Church—even as apprentices—that made them enemies. But Fizel's follow-up question was even more direct than Eugeo's line of thought.

Fizel: Um, are you two the intruders from the Dark Territory we heard about?

Eugeo: Huh...?

He and Zora shared a look. Even his partner seemed at a loss for how to respond. His mouth opened and shut several times without producing any words, and then he drew himself behind Eugeo.

Zora : I'm not good with kids. You take this one.

Eugeo: No fair!

Eugeo hissed, but he couldn't circle around to hide behind Zora. Instead, he looked up at the two girls awkwardly.

Eugeo: U-Um, well...We're actually from the Human Empire, but as for being intruders, well...you're wrong.

The girls put their heads together and started trading whispers. Their voices were low, but the area was so devastatingly quiet that they couldn't help but be audible at this distance.

Fizelf: See? They look like totally normal humans, Nel. No horns or tails!

Linel: I—I just told you that was in the book, that's all. You're the one who took the idea and ran with it, Zel.

Fizel: Hmm. Maybe they're just hiding them. Would we be able to tell if we got closer?

Linel: But they just look like totally normal people. Then again...they could have fangs in their mouths...

Eugeo couldn't stifle a grin, as he was reminded of Telure and Teline, the twin girls from Walde Farm. If he and Zora were that age and had heard about intruders from the land of darkness nearby, they would have very likely tried to go see them, too. And they'd probably have gotten a tongue-lashing from their father or the village elder for it.

That thought gave Eugeo pause. What if the girls got punished for making contact with rebels against the Church? It didn't seem like he was in a position to spend much time worrying about that, but he couldn't help himself.

Eugeo: Um...Won't you get into trouble if you're found talking to us?

Fizel and Linel both went silent and then grinned. Fizel replied with a smirk and considerably less formality than before.

Fizel: This morning, all monks, nuns and apprentices were ordered to lock themselves in their rooms. So there's no risk of getting caught even if we go take a look at the intruders!

Eugeo: Uh...right...

It was just the kind of logic that Zora would come up with. In fact, he could practically see his partner getting scolded for it already. The girls discussed something between themselves again.

Linel: Um...and you're definitely not monsters from the Dark Territory?

Euego: N-no.

Linel: Then, if you don't mind, may we see you up close? Um...your forehead and teeth in particular.

Eugeo: Huh?

Eugeo replied, turning around to Zora for help, but the other boy was conveniently looking away. This one would be up to Eugeo.

Eugeo: Well...I suppose that would be all right...

The inability to refuse such a request was in his nature, but a part of Eugeo also felt it was important for people to realize that even a traitor like him was a regular human being. Plus, they might be able to get information about the cathedral from the girls.

Their faces shining, Fizel and Linel trotted over with a mixture of curiosity and caution. They stopped when they reached the landing and stared with blue and gray eyes.

Eugeo crouched over, drew back his bangs from his forehead, and showed them his teeth. They stared at him without blinking for a good ten seconds, then looked satisfied.

Fizel: He's human.

Linel: Yes, human.

He snorted at the obvious disappointment in their reaction.

Linel: But if you're not monsters from the Dark Territory, why did you decide to infiltrate Central Cathedral?

Eugeo: Um, well...

Eugeo started, wondering how they could continually throw him off guard, then decided to be honest and admitted.

Eugeo: Long ago, a little girl who was a friend of mine got taken away by an Integrity Knight. So I'm here to take her back.

Surely, this statement would be difficult to accept, given how a sister-in- training would feel about the righteousness of the Axiom Church. Eugeo expected to see fear and revulsion in their young features, but instead, they merely bobbed their heads. Fizel, the one with the straw-blond hair, complained.

Fizel: Oh. That's kind of an ordinary reason.

Eugeo: O-ordinary?

Fizel: People whose families or lovers have been taken here have always come to argue their case to the Church. Not many, but it happens. But I bet you two are the first who actually got all the way inside.

Linel: Plus, you were thrown into prison, but you broke your spiritual chains and fled, not only that, they say you defeated two Integrity Knights, so we were sure you were monsters of darkness, or actual dark knights had invaded and that's why we were waiting.

Fizel and Linel: Good enough.

Linel then turned to Eugeo again and tilted her head at a questioning angle, braids swaying.

Linel: One last thing...may we ask what your names are?

Eugeo: I'm Eugeo. And this is Zora behind me.

Linel: Don't you have family names?

Eugeo: No, since we're children of settlers. Is that true for you as well?

Linel: No...We do have them.

Linel started smiling. It was the bright innocent smile of one about to stuff her face with a delicious treat.

Linel: My name is Linel Synthesis Twenty-Eight.

In the moment, Eugeo could not process the implication of that name. Suddenly, he felt a chill in the pit of his stomach and looked down. At some point, Linel had removed her short sword from its sheath and had buried the tip in Eugeo's stomach by about five cens.

It had only looked like a wooden toy before. The wood he'd taken to be the blade had actually been the scabbard. The blade she pulled from it was not made of wood but an unfamiliar metal that appeared cloudy green. The surface caught the outside light and gleamed wetly.

Zora: Eu—!

That was Zora. He craned his neck to look back at his partner, frozen in place, right foot forward. Fizel had been at Linel's side just an instant earlier, but now she was standing behind Zora, thrusting her own green blade into his dark blue shirt. Just as before, her smile was triumphant and confident.

Fizel: And I'm Fizel Synthesis Twenty-nine.

They pulled their short swords from Eugeo and Zora simultaneously. With swipes so fast they were invisible, Fizel and Linel flicked the blood off their blades and returned them to their sheaths. The chill that snuck into his stomach began to spread to his whole body. Everywhere that freezing feeling touched, his sensations began to numb.

Eugeo: You're...Int...eg...

He managed to stammer before even his tongue froze in his mouth. Eugeo felt his knees give way, and then he toppled to the floor. His chest and left cheek smashed against the marble, but he didn't even feel an impact, much less any pain.

A second later, he heard Zora hit the floor, too.

Eugeo(mind): Poison.

In class at Swordcraft Academy, they had learned about poisons and antidotes found in the natural world. But all the cases presented were from sources like plants, snakes, and insects. The school never even considered the possibility that they would be attacked with poisons in battle.

But of course. At the school—in the entirety of the human realm—battle was merely a competition of ferocity and aesthetics. Spreading toxic substances on a weapon was completely against the rules. Even that noble boy who released a poisonous insect to impede their advancement at the Zakkaria tournament didn't actually put any on his blade in competition.

So the extent of Eugeo's knowledge of poisons was: If such and such bug stings you, rub such and such herb on it. He didn't know what kind of poison the girls used, and there wasn't a single natural object around, much less an antidote herb. The last resort would be to attempt cleansing via sacred arts, but that was impossible while his hands and mouth were paralyzed.

So if this poison was the kind that both immobilized them and steadily drained their life, they could easily perish before they reached even the halfway point of Central Cathedral.

Linel: You don't have to be so frightened, Eugeo.

Linel high-pitched voice was warped and warbled; the poison made everything sound like it was underwater.

Linel: It's just a paralysis poison. But the only difference is whether you die here or on the fiftieth floor.

She trotted over until a little brown shoe came into Eugeo's vision where he lay with his cheek pressed to the floor. Linel lifted her foot and rested the toe right on Eugeo's head, rolling it around in search of something.

Linel: Hmm, no horns after all.

The foot moved over to his back, where it pressed down repeatedly on either side of his spine.

Linel: And no wings, either. What about him, Zel?

Fizel: He's just plain human, too!

Somewhere outside of his field of view, Fizel was doing the same thing to Zora.

Fizel: Aww, just when I thought we'd finally get to see some Dark Territory monsters!

Linel: Don't worry. If we take them up to the fiftieth floor and chop off their heads in front of everyone standing around up there, they should finally give us our divine weapons and dragons. Then we can just fly to the Dark Territory and see the real monsters for ourselves.

Linel: Good point. Okay, Nel, let's race to see who can take out a dark knight first!

To Eugeo's mind, the most horrifying part of all of this was how Fizel and Linel still sounded as childlike and innocent as ever. Why were children like them turned into Integrity Knights—and why were there children inside Central Cathedral at all?

Eugeo hadn't seen Linel draw her sword, and she had been right in front of him. Fizel was quick enough to easily neutralize Kirito from a distance. Their abilities were undeniable.

But true skill in battle had to be gained through years of training and experience in battles of life and death. Eugeo's ability to wield the divine Blue Rose Sword was not just because he had swung an ax at the Gigas Cedar for years, but it was also because of his battle against the goblins in the Northern Cave, according to Zora.

Fizel and Linel, however, looking to be no more than ten years old, didn't act like they'd ever faced the monsters from the world's extremities in battle. So how had they developed this blinding speed and skill?

Eugeo could not give voice to any of these questions. The poison had spread throughout his entire body, such that he didn't feel the coldness of the floor or any sensation that suggested he had a body at all. Linel grabbed Eugeo's right ankle with a tiny hand and started dragging him along, which he only realized because his vision rotated.

By turning his eyeballs to the left—the only part of him he could apparently move—Eugeo saw that Fizel was tugging Zora along like a piece of luggage. His partner's face was impossible to read, owing to the same paralysis.

The young Integrity Knights lightly skipped up the stairs, dragging the boys with their swords still in place. With each step, his head bounced violently, but he still felt no pain.

If there was any time to think of a way out, it was then, but the paralyzing poison seemed to work on his brain, too, as Eugeo's mind was empty and numb.

Even for a foe he had sworn to fight, Eugeo found it difficult to believe that the Axiom Church was performing its inhumane knighting ceremony on mere children. After all, the population of the world had believed that this organization represented absolute goodness and justice—for centuries.

It was then Fizel and Linel told them their stories. How they had become Integrity Knights due to being the only two survivors from a resurrection project that took place. Also, how they thought if they captured them and executed them In front of other knights, they would be made into proper knights.

Despite the increasingly urgent need to devise an escape plan, all Eugeo could do was listen passively to their story. Even if his mouth wasn't paralyzed, it seemed impossible that he could actually talk the girls out of it. They didn't even seem to possess the concepts of good and evil. The only thing they obeyed was the order of their creator, the pontifex Administrator.

After dozens of times changing direction, the ceiling that formed the entirety of what Eugeo could see went from being a steady upward slope to a flat surface like any ordinary ceiling. There was no more staircase to travel— they had arrived at the Great Hall on the fiftieth floor that marked the midpoint of the cathedral.

Fizel and Linel stopped walking and exchanged brief comments about getting ready. There were maybe minutes left—seconds, perhaps—before that green blade severed his neck. No matter how hard he willed, he couldn't even budge a finger; there was no sensation in his body.

The ceiling here was taller than anywhere previous, probably a good twenty mels overhead. The curved marble featured brilliant portraits of the three goddesses of creation and their followers. The circular pillars supporting the ceiling were covered in a multitude of sculptures and reliefs. On either side of the hall were massive windows beaming in the light of Solus. It was a tremendous sight, a place worthy of the name "Great Hall of Ghostly Light."

The girls dragged Eugeo and Zora five mels forward, then came to a stop. The momentum left Eugeo's body in a half-turn, giving him a full view of the Great Hall at last.

It was frighteningly vast, seemingly spanning the entire breadth of the cathedral floor for one chamber. The distant corners of the multicolored stone floor were hazy through the light. A deep-red carpet ran from the entrance all the way to the far wall, where double doors stood, so tall they seemed to be built for a giant. Clearly, the stairs to continue moving upward were through that door.

In the middle of the hall, far before the giant door, a number of knights stood in their armor and helmets, bristling and forbidding, preventing further progress. Four of them stood in an evenly spaced row, and another waited slightly ahead.

The four in the back all wore brilliant silver armor and helmets with a cross-shaped slit in the middle—exactly the kind that Eldrie wore. Their weapons were identical longswords, each standing on its tip with its owner's hands resting heavily on the pommel.

The knight in the front looked much different from the others. This one's armor shone with a regal pale-purple color and looked comparatively delicate, and a thin sword designed for thrusting hung at the knight's side. It was tempting to think of this as "light" armor, but the suffocating sense of danger rolling off the one wearing it far outclassed the others. The knight's face was hidden under a helmet designed to resemble a bird of prey's wings, but it was clear that he or she was just as mighty as Deusolbert.

Five Integrity Knights, an incredibly imposing wall to surpass in order to continue upward—and yet, at that moment, it was the two little girls right next to them who represented a greater threat to Eugeo's and Zora's lives. Linel and Fizel, standing proud in their apprentice habits, faced the five knights.

Linel: Standing over there are the members of the Four Whirling Blades, as well as Vice Commander Fanatio Synthesis Two.

Fizel: If Fanatio of the Heaven-Piercing Blade is being called upon, then the senate must be panicked indeed. Or are you the worried one, Fanatio? At this rate, you might find your vice seat taken by the Osmanthus, won't you?

After several seconds of strained silence, the purple knight spoke. The metallic voice carried that familiar inhuman rattle unique to Integrity Knights, but Eugeo did not miss its note of irritation.

Fanatio: What are you two young apprentices doing on this honorable Knight's battlefield?

Fizel: How ridiculous! It's because you bring honor and tradition into battle that you mighty Integrity Knights lost not once, but twice! But there's no need to worry. To keep the knights from disgracing themselves any further, we've captured the intruders for you!

Linel: We're going to decapitate these intruders now, so watch closely and be sure to report it to the pontifex! Surely honorable Integrity Knights such as yourselves would never stoop to stealing the credit.

Despite the desperate circumstances, Eugeo couldn't help but be amazed at the boldness of Linel and Fizel and how they stayed so composed facing five superhuman warriors.

But, no...Perhaps he was wrong. The emotion exuding from their little figures—was that...hatred?

With all his strength, Eugeo focused his eyes on the girls. Even if his intuition was correct, what did they hate? They'd showed nothing but pure curiosity toward Eugeo and Zora, who were high traitors to Administrator and the Axiom Church.

Linel and Fizel were so busy staring at the Integrity Knights with open loathing and disrespect, the knights themselves were so obviously annoyed by them, and Eugeo was so preoccupied with trying to figure out the two girls, that it was unlikely anyone noticed the figure in black moving behind them until it actually appeared.

Like a panther on the hunt, despite suffering the same paralyzing toxin that Eugeo did, Zora snuck behind the girls and grabbed their short swords from their belts, one with each hand. In one smooth movement, he drew the blades and pressed them against their exposed arms. By the time they turned around, mouths agape, Zora had already leaped clear backward, short swords in hand. They were stunned.

Linel: How...?

Fizel: I can't move...

The paralysis worked instantly, and after just a few words, the children toppled lightly to the floor. As they fell, Zora rose. He held both poison daggers in one hand and stepped forward to search in their pockets with the other. In no time, he had found a little bottle the size of a fingertip, filled with an orange liquid.

He popped the cork out, sniffed it, and looked satisfied. Still paralyzed, Eugeo had no other option but to trust that it was an antidote as the bottle's contents slipped between his lips. It was probably for the best that his numb tongue couldn't taste it, either. Zora then leaned down on his knee, an unfamiliar and severe look on his face, and whispered.

Zora: The paralysis will wear off in a few minutes. Once your lips work again, start chanting the Perfect Weapon Control command so the knights don't hear you. When it's ready, hang on to it and wait for my signal.

With that, he stood up and moved back to stand next to the girls. In a loud, clear voice, he called out to the five Integrity Knights.

Zora: The swordsmen Zora and Eugeo apologize for the disrespect of entering your presence on our backsides! We seek to make amends and repair our dishonored reputations, and to cross swords with you!

Fanatio: I am second of the Integrity Knights, Fanatio Synthesis Two! Sinner, know that my divine Heaven-Piercing Blade knows not the concept of mercy, so if you wish to speak, do so while it remains sheathed!

Zora looked down at the collapsed girls next to him and, loud enough for the other knights to hear.

Zora: You must be wondering how I was able to move.

Linel was unable to speak, of course, but her eyes seemed to well up with frustration.

Zora: You gave the game away. You said that all the monks and nuns were ordered to stay in their rooms. Nobody in the cathedral would dare disobey an order—so given that you weren't following them, you couldn't be real sisters-in-training.

The antidote started working, sending little prickles of pain into Eugeo's limbs, but he hardly noticed them at all. At last, he realized the nature of the emotion he saw on his partner's face. Zora—placid, aloof Zora—was furious. But his anger didn't seem to be directed at the children themselves. If anything, there was pain in his eyes when he glanced down at Linel and Fizel.

Zora: And those sheaths you wear. They're made of ruby oak from the south. That's the only material that won't corrode when touched by these swords made of Ruberyl's poisoned steel. There's no way a simple apprentice nun would be carrying something like that. So before you approached, I cast a poison-dissolving art—it just took a little time for it to actually work. The speed of your sword isn't all there is to strength. In short, you were stupid enough that you might as well die here.

Zora held the poison swords aloft in his left hand, then swung them down without mercy or hesitation. The two short swords flew, leaving little green trails. They thudded dully, the blades stuck into the floor right before Linel's and Fizel's noses.

Zora: But I will not kill you. Instead, I want you to watch the Integrity Knights that you insulted and see how powerful they truly are.

Then he turned and took several steps forward. He drew his black sword loudly and swung around to brandish it before a knight.

Zora: You have waited long enough, Sir Fanatio! Once again, I'm Zora the swordsman. And I challenge you!

Eugeo(mind): No...he wouldn't.

But Eugeo's lips could do no more than tremble. He couldn't call Zora's back; his mouth and tongue were still regaining their sensations.

Zora often liked to take out books on weapons from the academy library, so that might explain how he knew about things like ruby oak and poisoned steel. It was just like him to employ his skills of observation to escape from the girls' trap, but the two had still undoubtedly left them in a far more dangerous situation than before. They had to face five Integrity Knights, one of whom was the vice commander, and fight them in direct battle. Their great idea about having Perfect Control ready to go before they entered the Great Hall was totally ruined.

Normally, Zora would drag Eugeo away from this situation to regroup and improve their chances. That he wasn't doing it now was a sign that he wasn't in his right mind. He was gripped by such a rage that if Eugeo squinted, he thought he could see wisps of pale-blue flame rising from the back of his black shirt.

Even the instructors at Swordcraft Academy would be taken aback if they faced Zora in his present state. But the purple knight named Fanatio, vice commander of all Integrity Knights, boldly grabbed the handle of his rapier and drew it. Eugeo's eyes were pierced with such a brilliant light that it seemed the weapon itself was glowing.

Following Fanatio, the other four soldiers flipped up their downward-pointed swords in unison and took stances. The swell of tension and hostility pushed back against Zora's, making the air in the hall practically crackle.

Zora sprang forward at Fanatio so hard that the hobnails on his boots created sparks. His black sword swung up high in the air. But at the same moment, the leftmost of the four knights standing behind Fanatio began a similar charge. But Zora paid them no mind. All he did was counter each and every horizontal strike and avalanche attacked from the four whirling blades and went straight for the vice commander. Judging by their movements and attacked, Zora could already guess that this Integrity Knights were not used to combo moves like he and Eugeo.

Dakira: You insolent criminal, thinking you can battle Sir Fanatio one-on-one... We, the Four Whirling Blades are your opponents!

Fanatio: You four, stay back! I'll be his opponent.

Dakira: Yes.

The Four Whirling Blades stood down as they were asked. The fight between Zora and the Vice Commander of the Integrity Knights were underway.

Fanatio: System Call: Enhance Armament!

Zora: Yaaaah!!

Zora swung back his sword, still at a considerable distance. Normally it would never reach from this far, but the blade promptly let off a pale-green light—the Aincrad-style attack Sonic Leap. Like Vertical, it was a single downward slice, but this one had a charging power that covered over twice the distance in an instant.

Zora leaped like some hunting animal, trailing colored light, as Fanatio held out the tip of his rapier. But no matter what he did with it, such a slender tool could not completely block the impact of an ultimate technique. The Gigas Cedar blade was even heavier than Eugeo's divine Blue Rose Sword. When combined with the tremendous speed of Zora's attack, three of those little rapiers together would shatter easily under its force.

The night sky swordsman reached the peak of his jump, and just as he started to swing the sword forward, the rapier glinted in the knight's hands. Or more accurately, the entire body of it flashed, and then it stretched forward at incredible speed.

The slender beam silently punctured Zora's left flank, continued onward through the air, then exploded at last against the ceiling of the Great Hall. All of this happened in a single moment.

The shock of his pierced stomach threw off the trajectory of Zora's attack, causing the brunt of its force to hit nothing but air and merely glance off the plume of Fanatio's helmet.

There was hardly any bleeding from the wound, so it didn't seem like much of a danger in terms of his life value, but Zora immediately fell to a knee as he landed. Eugeo looked closer and saw that there was a faint trail of smoke rising from the edges of a little hole in his shirt.

So it was likely a fire-based attack. Yet the light that shot from Fanatio's sword was so white, it was nearly blue. Eugeo had never seen fire that color before.
Fanatio turned with almost detestable grace and pointed the tip of the rapier at the prone Zora. It let off a soft hiss, and another beam of light shot out. If Zora hadn't immediately leaped to his left, it would have caught his leg. Instead, the beam pierced into the marble floor and exploded again. When the light faded, there was a melted red hole in the spot.

Eugeo: No...way...

Eugeo grunted, though he didn't even realize he'd done it at first. The materials used to build the cathedral were the same excellent marble as the Everlasting Walls that divided Centoria, judging by the pure color and smooth sheen. It wasn't the kind of stone that would melt from a simple fire. Even Deusolbert's Conflagration Bow only succeeded in burning the carpets and tapestries.

So if Fanatio's Perfect Control arts were fire-based, they were easily far greater than Deusolbert's. It was possible that Zora's life was already in dire condition from the earlier shot.

Clutched in the grips of cold fear, Eugeo could only watch as Zora continued to leap around irregularly. Fanatio's sword flashed and blasted after him, gouging stone with each volley.

The most frightening part of the technique was that it operated instantly, with no preparatory period of charging or thrusting. From Eugeo's location, it was impossible to tell when the casually pointed rapier would emit the beam of light. It was similar to Eldrie's Frostscale Whip in terms of its range, but that one seemed positively cute compared to this.

Fanatio continued pressuring Zora, gliding after him. It was only Zora's honed primal instincts and excellent reflexes that helped him evade the fourth, fifth, and sixth beams.

It was the seventh that finally brought an end to the deadly game of cat and mouse. The beam sizzled through the air and caught Zora on the top of his right foot in midair. He lost balance and fell hard on his shoulder. Even then, he lifted himself up immediately, but Fanatio was there, training the point of his weapon below that black head of hair.

Eugeo: Zo...!

Eugeo(mind): My voice. Now I can...

Eugeo started to shout, but then he realized the numbness in his throat and mouth was finally subsiding for good. He thought he might have enough voice to execute the sacred art. He summoned strength into his gut and began to recite the commands, quietly enough that the knights couldn't hear but loud enough for God.

Eugeo: System Call...

Zora would be able to get out of his predicament on his own. There was only one thing for Eugeo to do, and that was to recite his Perfect Weapon Control and have it ready to go when it was needed. Fanatio held his deadly sword directly before Zora, drawing out the silence, and then muttered.

Fanatio: For a hundred years, the commander has scolded me for a bad habit of taunting in these situations...but I must admit, it is so pathetic. Why do those who fall before the might of my Heaven- Piercing Blade always look so foolish? I am certain that you, too, are wondering about the nature of this attack that defeated you so easily.

The four knights working under Fanatio finished their healing, and they fanned out behind Zora at a distance, brandishing their swords one-handed. That made escape more difficult, but it also looked like Fanatio's speech might last a while. Eugeo focused his entire mind on chanting, taking great pains not to make a single mistake.

Fanatio: You may be a criminal, but if you've lived in the capital, you must know what a mirror is.

Eugeo(mind): Mirror?

Eugeo had seen them before, of course. Not back home in Rulid, but the rooms in the elite disciple dorm at the academy each had a small one. It was a curious item that reflected light far more vividly than water or metal plates, but Eugeo hadn't spent much time looking in it. He didn't like his weak- willed appearance. Fanatio kept the sword trained on Zora in case he moved, and continued.

Fanatio: That instrument is capable of reflecting Solus's light more or less completely. Long ago, the eminent pontifex used 1,000 huge mirrors to focus Solus's midsummer light into a single spot, producing pure white flames. Within minutes, those flames melted away a man sized boulder.

Eugeo(mind): Weapon...White flame...?

Fanatio's statement didn't exactly add up in Eugeo's mind. But he could sense instinctively that this plan of the pontifex's was just as horrific as making children kill each other in order to test resurrection arts.

Fanatio: The pontifex then bound the 1,000 mirrors with a Divine skill, forged them... and created a single sword. This Divine Object, the Heaven Piercing Blade. Do you understand, criminal? What pierced you was the power or the Sun God, Solus.

Zora(mind): It reflects the sun's energy.

Eugeo was so stunned by this proud speech, he nearly slipped up at the end of the chant. So the white beam of light was Solus, amplified by the power of a thousand mirrors. An attack with heat elements could be fought off with ice elements. But how would one defend against an attack of pure light? And as far as Eugeo knew, no art that used light elements as its base had any direct attack power to speak of. An illusory light spell could be eliminated by one using darkness, but not even ten or twenty layers of darkness could withstand a beam of that power.

Eugeo continued with his recitation largely automatically, resisting the sense of panic driving him, and finally reached the end. All he had to do was finish with Enhance Armament, and the Blue Rose Sword would unleash its hidden strength. Now he had to wait for Zora's signal. Fanatio had said all he wanted to say and pushed forward the rapier he had pointed at Zora's head.

Fanatio: Sinner Zora, do you understand now the full power of the sword that will take your remaining life? Before you die, repent for your sins, pledge your faith to the God and 4 goddesses, and beg for forgiveness. Then the purity of the ghostly light will wash your sins clean and guide your soul to Heaven. And now I bid you farewell, young, foolish heretic.

The Heaven-Piercing Blade flashed, surging with the beam of light that would pierce Zora's heart and end his life. At that exact same moment, Eugeo heard.

Zora: Discharge!

Before the light erupted from the tip of Fanatio's sword, Zora smacked his hands together and shoved them forward. Right in front of his palms was a silver-colored sheet. But it wasn't just an ordinary metal plate. It was perfectly square and flat, and in it, Eugeo could see a reflection of Fanatio's helmet.

Just before Zora had brought his hands together, Eugeo had glimpsed two different-colored elements gripped in his fingers. In his right hand was a steel element, used to throw needles or create temporary tools. And in his left hand was a crystal element, an essence of glass for fashioning cups or building barriers that were hard to see. By combining the two and forming them into a flat surface, he had created...a mirror.

The spear of superheated light hit the magically created mirror and instantly turned the silver into orange. Tools created from sacred elements were naturally short-lived. It might look like the same knife, but one forged from proper ore would last for decades, while a tool crafted from steel elements would run out of life and turn to dust in mere hours. This mirror was no exception, and it clearly wouldn't last against the Heaven-Piercing Blade's incredible power.

Sure enough, the mirror only held up for a tenth of a second. The liquefied mixture of glass and metal sprayed outward, and 80 percent of the beam's
power proceeded toward Zora. He made use of that instant, however. By tilting his body to the left just enough, it singed his hair and a bit of his cheek as it passed him.

The other 20 percent of the beam reflected by the mirror bounced sharply back at Fanatio's helmet. Despite the stunning turnaround, the second of all Integrity Knights yanked his head aside with similarly quick reflexes. But the winglike plumes on either side of the helmet did not escape damage. The light penetrated the left wing, obliterated the fastener that held it down—and then the entire helmet fell off in two halves, front and back.

The first thing Eugeo noticed was the volume of hair that burst free. It was just as black as Zora's, yet the shine of it was far richer. The long, wavy locks, which must have required a lot of upkeep, shone in the midday sun from the Great Hall's window.

Eugeo(mind): Wow, for being a knight, he's kinda...

Eugeo started to think, and then Fanatio raised a hand to block the light and shouted.

Fanatio: You dare see me, you knave?!

Unlike the metallic, warped voice that came from the helmet, this one was clear and high-pitched.

Eugeo(mind): It's a woman?!

In his shock, Eugeo nearly discarded the sacred arts he had in waiting. He clamped his lips shut and tried to focus on holding the spell in. But part of him couldn't avoid staring at Fanatio's back.

She was as tall as Zora, if not taller, but seen in this new light, the curve from back to waist was indeed too delicate. And yet he had never doubted that Fanatio was a man until that point.

They'd already met Alice Synthesis Thirty and the children Linel and Fizel, so there was no reason to assume there weren't plenty of women among the Integrity Knights. And at the academy, nearly half the students were girls like Ronie and Tiese. Many of those students wound up to be Integrity Knights, so it shouldn't have been a surprise that the second-in- command was a woman.

Eugeo was puzzled by why he was so thrown for a loop, until he realized that Fanatio's mannerisms and attitude were extremely masculine. So perhaps Fanatio's current rage wasn't about the revelation of her face—but her femininity.

Even Zora looked completely shocked, one knee on the ground and burns on his face. Fanatio glared at him through the fingers of her left hand.

Fanatio: And you...you look at me the same way, sinner? Even a traitor and rebel against the Church claims that he cannot fight me seriously once he knows I am a woman?

Despite her strangled cry, her voice was as pure and beautiful as an instrument played by a master musician.

Fanatio: I am not human. I am an Integrity Knight summoned to earth from Heaven...and yet you men mock and slander me as soon as you learn I am a woman! And not just my fellows...but even the general of the dark knights, the very manifestation of evil!!

Eugeo(mind): No, you're wrong. Neither I nor Zora is mocking you.

Between the garrison at Zakkaria and the academy, he had fought against many women. Many were better than he was and had bested him in combat. In none of those battles did Eugeo fight at less than his best because they were women, and he held an equal regard for the skilled, no matter their sex.

But what if it wasn't a fight with rules for victory and defeat, but a true battle to the death? Could he actually destroy the last of an opponent's life without hesitation?

The breath caught in Eugeo's throat. He'd never had to consider this question. Just then, Fantio, launched herself up into the air. It wasn't a fancy technique of any kind, just a slash from the upper right. It was so fast that Eugeo could barely see the blade moving. It was practically a miracle that Zora was able to block it in time. An earsplitting clang ripped through the vicinity, sparks briefly illuminating the faces of the two combatants.

Fanatio caught the sword on the rapier's guard, but the momentum of the attack drove her several steps back. Zora did not let up any pressure on the knight as they clashed hilt to hilt. Bit by bit, Fanatio's purple-armored knee began to bend.

Zora: I see. That's why you chose that sword and that move. So that you could fire those shots and keep anyone from finding out you were a woman... Isn't that right, Lady Fanatio?

Fanatio: You...y-you wretch!!

Fanatio shrieked, pushing back on her sword. At great pains, Eugeo tore his eyes away from the combatants to look at the four knights surrounding them, who did seem slightly unnerved. Perhaps even some of them were unaware of Fanatio's true identity. He had no idea about the two paralyzed girls to his right, though.

Zora and Fanatio continued their deadlock, soaking in the attention of all present. In terms of personal and sword weight, Zora had a clear advantage. But once she pushed back on equal footing, Fanatio exhibited a tremendous force of her own that did not seem to come from her physical arms. Through gritted teeth, Zora tried rattling her again.

Zora: Just so you know, the reason I was so shocked earlier is because your spirit got so weak as soon as the helmet broke. You hide your face and your swordfighting style... I'd say you're the one who's most obsessed with your femininity.

Fanatio: Shut up! I'll kill you no matter what!

Zora: That's the point of this fight. And I'm certainly not going to let up just because you're a woman. I've lost to girls plenty of times already! And not once did I ever hold back against them!

Even from just what Eugeo knew, Zora had lost to Sortiliena, his tutor disciple at school, plenty of times. But the way he was speaking now, it didn't sound like he was talking about training and practice duels. It sounded like he had engaged in real, actual battles against swordswomen and lost...

Zora: And you won't be the first!

Zora abruptly swung his right foot forward and swept her leg. Her balance lurched, and the two blades gave off sparks. He pushed the jet-black sword forward with one hand.

But the Integrity Knight flashed her hand with impossible speed, and the rapier deflected the side of the black sword like a living creature. With his thrust pushed aside, she had time to recover her balance and take a step back for distance.

Zora countered just as quickly. He plunged in close, practically ramming her, to keep the gap small. Given the way she could produce that light beam without any preparation, fighting at a distance was a nonstarter.

A swordfight erupted at point-blank range and lightning speed.

Most shocking of all to Eugeo was that for all of Zora's blinding combination attacks, Fanatio met every one without faltering. Her shining rapier moved here and there and everywhere, dispatching every strike of the black blade that just kept coming. Whenever the slightest opening presented itself, she threw in two or three jabs in a row. Neither was using any ultimate techniques, because neither had the time to take the proper stance.

None of the sword schools in the human realm possessed anything like the combination attacks of the Aincrad style. Even the veteran Integrity Knight Deusolbert wasn't aware of them. That would mean that Fanatio's combos were something she came up with herself. Surely, the reason for that had something to do with what Zora had said earlier.

The Heaven-Piercing Blade defeated foes without letting them approach. The combination attacks ensured that if she couldn't use Perfect Weapon Control, she could continue attacking, even if the first blow was blocked.

Fanatio was terrified of fighting at ultraclose range and having what was underneath her armor revealed.

But why...? Why would she go to such lengths to hide her own nature?

Eugeo watched their battle in stunned rapture as he considered these questions. The other four knights were in the same state of mind—they were all watching with their greatswords lowered.

Eugeo(mind): Wow... What a truly brilliant battle.

Even at such close range, both combatants kept their feet still and traded furious storms of slashes and thrusts, dodging and deflecting as necessary. It felt like he was watching shooting stars clash, reflecting and vanishing. The impact of steel on steel was so quick and constant that it began to resemble a kind of percussion performance.

A ferocious smile was plastered on Zora'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 Zora 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 Zora'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 Zora 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 Zora 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 Zora.

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 Zora, 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 Zora, and with each rebound they brought their weapons back around with even greater fury.

Fanatio: Ryaaaa!

Zora: 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.

Fanatio: I understand. Criminal. I can see you're unlike the ones I've fought before. No man has tried to seriously slash me after seeing this detestable face.

Zora: Detestable, huh? Then who are you combing your hair and wearing lipstick for?

Zora taunted. But Fanatio merely grimaced.

Fanatio: 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.

Zora must have felt something in her words, too, but he kept his face an utter mask as he demand.

Zora: 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. Zora 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.

Fanatio: 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, Zora would slice her without mercy or hesitation.

Fanatio: 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. 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... 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 Zora 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!

Eugeo(mind): Zora!!

Eugeo thought desperately, sitting upright. Just at that moment, one of the beams was about to pierce Zora's right arm. And in fact, there were charred black holes on his left shoulder and right thigh already.

Zora wasn't the only one who was suffering from the superheated light.

Even Fanatio, the very owner of the Heaven-Piercing Blade, received ugly holes on the armor over her stomach, shoulders, and legs. The punctures looked even deeper than Zora'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 Zora, 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, Zora 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.

Zora: You...colossal idiot!!

Zora screamed. A spray of blood shot from his mouth. No matter how much life Zora 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 Zora and Fanatio.

Eugeo(mind): Now! Now's my only chance!

Zora 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.

Eugeo: 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.

Eugeo: —Armament!!

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

Eugeo: Bloom! Blue Roses!

Instantly, countless vines of pale-blue ice sprang up around the feet of the knights, Fanatio, and Zora. 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.'

Jiro: Rrgh...

Dakira: 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.

Fanatio: Curse you.

Zora: Hey where are you looking?!

But Zora'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.

Fanatio: 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.

Zora 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.

Zora: 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.

Eugeo: Zora! Hang on. I'll cast a healing art right-

Zora: No! Don't stop the technique! 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, Zora glared and held his sword aloft.

Zora: 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 Zora'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. Zora 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.

Eugeo(mind): You don't need to rush, Zora. 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.

Eugeo: Wha...

The source of the light was Fanatio, who 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 Zora, 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.

Eugeo: 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.

Eugeo(mind): Is she even human?

Zora 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?

Was it the Integrity Knight's sense of compelling duty to uphold the law? Her love for this man that had apparently lasted for a hundred years? Or did it have something to do with what she'd said earlier...?

Fanatio claimed that if the Axiom Church's power was lost, the armies of the Dark Territory would run wild over the human world.

If true, then she was sacrificing her own health for the sake of the common people—the ones the higher nobles treated like livestock, abusing and exploiting them for all they were worth.

But that couldn't be true. The Integrity Knights were the tools of the wicked Administrator, who took young Alice away, robbed her of her memories, and turned her into someone else. They were the hateful enemy. Their whole quest up the length of Central Cathedral had been built on the knowledge of their nature and the possibility that they would need to kill them.

They couldn't be anything else—the Integrity Knights couldn't be a bastion of goodness now.

Eugeo: You... None of you... know what justice is!

Eugeo growled, pouring all the hostility welled up in his heart into the Blue Rose Sword. Once again, a wave of ice vines grew around Fanatio, winding up her right arm and digging into her flesh with their thorns.

Eugeo: Stop! Stop right now!!

But although his heart was full of overwhelming hatred, something spilled from Eugeo's eyes. He could not accept that they were tears; he refused to recognize that he was being moved by the sight of her foolish insistence on extending her own arm, despite the binding thorns that embodied Eugeo's hatred and fury.

The Integrity Knight's arm was tattered. A carpet of broken thorns stuck in her skin, her blood oozing out and freezing into hanging red icicles. But it never stopped moving, lowering until the upright Heaven-Piercing Blade was pointed level, its tip directed right at Eugeo and Zora.

Through the blur of tears, Eugeo saw the silver weapon shine brighter than ever before. The light was so bright that Fanatio must have been burning off the entire remainder of her life. He had to squint his wet eyes to shut it out; the light was as bright as if Solus itself had descended on the Great Hall.

Eugeo(mind): I can't win. Not how I am now. I just can't beat her.

Eugeo sighed softly, watching the ice roses melt and break down from nothing more than exposure to her light. But he wasn't going to simply close his eyes and wait for that sun to bring him death. He refused to give in to Fanatio's "righteousness" like that.

He would at least create one last rose in a symbol of spite. He summoned the last dregs of hatred from the depths of his heart for that final act of defiance—when Zora finished his recitation and murmured.

Zora: You can't beat her with hatred, Eugeo.

Eugeo: Huh...?

Eugeo turned back and saw his partner with blood-flecked lips turned into a tense smile.

Zora: You didn't come all this way because you hate the Integrity Knights, right? It's because you want to get Alice back, to see her again... You're here because you love Alice. And your feelings aren't in any way inferior to her justice. Same for me...I want to protect the people of this world: you, Alice, even her. So we can't afford to give up and lose now... Isn't that right, Eugeo?

Despite the desperate circumstances, Zora's voice was calm. The mysterious swordsman smiled, nodded, and looked forward. Just then, the Heaven-Piercing Blade unleashed its biggest and final flash. It was a spear of light that not even all the beams until now, bundled together into one, could have matched. The light of the heavens, which Solus herself flung to banish the god of darkness—Vecta—in the age of creation, bore down as it prepared to burn everything in its path. Zora's eyes were wide with astonishing willpower. The final line of the chant left his mouth, a single note of defiance amid desperate odds.

Zora: Enhance Armament!!