No one's POV

Both Eugeo's Blue Rose Sword and Zora's black blade carved light-green trails in the darkened chamber.

The paths formed a perfect symmetry. This was to be expected, as both Zora and Eugeo launched into identical skills simultaneously, including the charging skill Sonic Leap. The timing was perfectly aligned, such that the sword tips reached the peak of their curve, flashing brighter to indicate the attack power was at its maximum potential, at precisely the same moment before silver and black edges collided.

Zora didn't just execute the technique. He used the tension in his feet, rotation of his body, and swing of his arms as three separate accelerative forces on the attack. Even so, Eugeo's Sonic Leap wasn't even a microsecond slower than Zora's. Eugeo had pushed his as far as it could go, just like Zora had. And Zora hadn't even fully taught Eugeo how to do that yet.

Somehow, when Zora hadn't been paying attention, Eugeo had kept patiently, stubbornly swinging away. Hundreds of times, every single day, until he could hear the voice of the sword.

Zora: How?

Zora grunted under his breath as their swords clashed at their intersection point.

Zora: How did you lose to the Synthesis Ritual? The reason you studied the blade...the reason you left Rulid for Centoria was to take back your childhood friend Alice. Right?

Eugeo:...

Eugeo stood firm, blocking Zora's sword. As Eugeo had warned before they started, he had nothing more to say to Zora—his lips were shut tight. Zora felt like he saw a glimmer in Eugeo's green eyes the moment he heard the name Alice, but whatever that was, it was instantly swallowed by darkness. Perhaps it was nothing more than a trick of the eyes, caused by the green glow coming from the swords.

If their stalemate continued for a few seconds longer, the Sonic Leaps would expire, ushering them into a furious close-range swordfight. At that point, Zora wouldn't have the time to think. He used the brief recess to furiously spur his mind onward.

Integrity Knights were created through direct operation of their souls, in what was called the Synthesis Ritual. It involved extracting a crystal of memories from the subject's mind and replacing it with a device that forced their loyalty, an object called a Piety Module.

The moment Eldrie had heard his mother's name, he'd become unstable, and the Piety Module had begun to emerge from his forehead. That meant that in order to make him an Integrity Knight, Administrator had stolen his memories of his mother.

The other knights must've lost similarly precious memories. For Deusolbert, it was likely the memory of his wife. For Fanatio and Bercouli, Zora couldn't be sure yet, but he imagined it was either families or lovers.

Zora(mind): So who would it be for Alice?

The golden knight was back against the wall, watching the fight between Eugeo and Zora. The most probable answer was her little sister, Selka, who was still living back in Rulid. When Zora had casually dropped Selka's name while they were resting on the terrace ledge outside the tower, Alice had reacted violently. She'd cried at the mention of her sister and even sworn rebellion against the Axiom Church.

Zora(mind): But the mention of Selka's name didn't cause Alice's Piety Module to become unstable, as far as I could tell. That was either because she'd been an Integrity Knight for six years already or because the stolen memories weren't actually of Selka. Assuming my conjectures about these matters were accurate, then whose memory did Administrator steal from Eugeo?

Not far from where they stood locked in combat was the levitating platform, which Chudelkin had used to flee to the floor above, and which Zora had summoned back down. There was a hole in the ceiling about three feet across. It had to be Administrator's chamber through there, but it was pitch- black through the hole. If she was up there right now, Zora couldn't tell.

But just an hour ago, she had "synthesized" Eugeo there—stealing his most precious memories. But of whom?

There was only one answer Zora could imagine. It was the girl he'd been chasing after for eight years, ever since Deusolbert took her away when she was a child. Alice Zuberg, who was now Alice Synthesis Thirty.

Then why did Eugeo have no reaction toward Alice, who was standing in the very same room with them while they dueled? Eldrie's module nearly fell out just at the mention of his mother's name. If his instability was a factor of how little time he'd spent as an Integrity Knight—well, Eugeo had been one for barely an hour. He should've had an even more violent reaction the instant he saw Alice.

But this Eugeo was completely closed off from the world. If it wasn't memories of Alice that had been removed from him, then who—or what— did Administrator take away?

At that moment, the shine from the two clashing sword skills faded.

Without the propulsion that the system assistance gave them, the white and black blades recoiled from each other. As sparks flew, Zora clenched his teeth and Eugeo looked as impassive as ever. They brandished their swords for new attacks.

Zora: Yaaah!

Eugeo:...!

With simultaneous cries—one voiced and one mute—Zora and Eugeo launched high left-handed swings with perfect synchronization. The blades clashed and recoiled, and next was a swipe from the right side. The edges clanged and slid, leading to a downward left swing. This, too, was firmly caught.

As they settled into their second stalemate, Zora couldn't help but marvel. Their swords might have identical stats, but the people who wielded them did not. Zora was lighter, with regular clothes, while Eugeo wore heavy plate armor. Eugeo was lugging around many times the weight Zora was, yet Eugeo's attacks were coming with the exact same speed. Either turning into an Integrity Knight bumped up his strength, or this was the effect of that "Incarnate" thing Alice had mentioned just before the fight.

Zora knew that this world contained some systems that couldn't be explained with the logic of all the other VRMMO worlds he'd experienced to this point. Invisible forces like willpower and imagination could, at times, produce effects beyond that of even high-level system commands.

Becoming an Integrity Knight had taken away Eugeo's memories and emotions, but his willpower was cold and sharp. Before Zora and Eugeo started fighting, Eugeo had summoned the Blue Rose Sword Zora possessed to his hand as though through telekinesis—an ability Alice had called Incarnate Arms.

What was actually in Eugeo's heart now? It was the determination to take Alice back from the Church that drove him to want to be an Integrity Knight in the first place. What kind of will was now filling the enormous void left in its place?

Zora couldn't imagine that it was all just loyalty to the Axiom Church and its pontifex, etched into Eugeo's soul. Zora didn't want to believe that; there was no way the Blue Rose Sword could withstand every last ounce of his black sword's strength with that kind of artificial willpower.

Somewhere within those icy cold eyes, something was still burning. Zora had to believe in that. And if there was one way to summon that forth, it had to be...

Zora: Eugeo, maybe you don't remember this anymore...but you and I never actually got to fight with everything we have, before.

Eugeo:...

Eugeo's eyes, which had once shone a brilliant green, were now dark and dull. Zora stared into them, willing them to respond.

Zora: On the journey from Rulid to Centoria, and while we were at Swordcraft Academy, I asked myself the same question many times: Who would win if we crossed blades for real? And to be honest...I felt like one day, you would surpass me.

Eugeo returned Zora's gaze without blinking. In fact, he didn't return it—his eyes were like closed shutters. Zora was nothing but an intruder who needed to be eliminated. If Zora showed Eugeo even an instant of weakness, he would strike. But Zora still delivered the conclusion of his speech, believing that something would get through to Eugeo.

Zora: But now is not that time. You've forgotten about me, about Alice, about Tiese and Ronie, and even about Cardinal. You can't beat me. And I'm going to prove that to you.

As soon as the words had left Zora's mouth, he stopped breathing and willed the strength of every muscle in his body into his sword. Fine wrinkles appeared on Eugeo's brow as he attempted to push back. At that instant, Zora pulled back.

The blades clashed, producing a line of sparks in the gloom. The shift in momentum pushed Zora backward and caused Eugeo to lean forward.

If Zora tried to steady himself, he'd be a sitting duck for Eugeo. Instead, Zora pushed into the momentum and let his back fall toward the floor. Out of the corner of his eye, Zora spotted Alice reaching across her body for the Osmanthus Blade, certain that Zora had just lost.

But her decision was coming three seconds too early. Victory or defeat would be determined by whether Zora's strategy was successful or not—or how well Eugeo truly understood the Aincrad style.

Zora(mind): I've never shown you this skill before!

Just before Zora's back hit the floor, Zora kicked upward with his right foot. The toe of Zora's boot shone, lighting Eugeo's chin from below.

Zora: Yaaaah!

Zora spun backward, the angle tight. It was Aincrad-style martial arts, the backflip-kick skill Crescent Moon. This handy move, which a person could activate while falling backward, had saved Zora's life on numerous occasions in the old SAO. He hadn't used it in combat or practice since coming to the Underworld, but the movement was etched into his muscles—and most importantly, Zora had never shown it to Eugeo.

On the other hand, Zora had shown Eugeo martial arts with fists or shoulders. He'd shown proficiency with it, too. He could do the simple punching skill Flash Blow, as well as three parts of Meteor Break, the high-level combination of body blows and slashes.

If Eugeo had discovered the existence of kicking attacks in his own time, or even just suspected their existence, he was going to evade Zora's Crescent Moon. And the downside of this attack was that it had an extremely long recovery after it had been dodged. If Zora missed, he would be helpless against Eugeo's merciless blade.

Zora(mind): This is it, Eugeo!

Zora's right foot closed in on his opponent's gorget. Even in this situation, Eugeo's eyes were full of impassive frost. He twisted his torso without changing his expression, attempting to curve away from Zora's foot. But the momentum that had pulled him forward when he fell backward was still a factor. Zora's glowing toe shot toward Eugeo's defenseless chin.

Eugeo:...!

Air shot from Eugeo's mouth. The arm holding the Blue Rose Sword swiped sideways with ferocious force. But no matter how hard he swung, Zora's leg was faster. If Zora just focused on connecting, he would reach...

No.

Eugeo wasn't attempting a counterattack. He was using not the blade of the sword but its pommel and aiming it not at Zora's body but at his leg: a backhand pommel strike. It was an utterly practical movement, one that would never exist in the Underworld, where graceful solemnity ruled all concerns of swordfighting. Even in the old SAO, only the most savvy of veteran PvP players could pull off such a tactic.

He could change the trajectory of the Crescent Moon by nudging it from the side. So where did Zora aim?

Zora: !

Zora gritted his teeth and did everything in his power to hold back the kick. But if Zora pulled too hard, the skill would fumble, leaving him helpless. Zora had to delay the progress for what felt to him like a quarter of a second so that Eugeo's hand would pass first.

Zora(mind): Now!

A hard crash erupted.

Rather than hitting Eugeo's throat as originally planned, Zora's Crescent Moon got him on the back of the hand that held his sword. Like the other Integrity Knights, he wore tough gauntlets, so this wouldn't damage his hand —but it had the exact effect Zora was hoping for.

Eugeo's right hand bounced upward, knocking the Blue Rose Sword from his grasp. It spun upward and embedded itself in the marble ceiling, which Zora spotted out of the corner of his eye. He squeezed his sword, readying himself to attack once his backflip followed through and Zora landed on his feet again.

The sole of Zora's shoe—the glow of the attack fading—touched solid ground. Zora bent his knees, absorbing the impact, and launched himself before he could straighten up or fall again. Zora's left foot soared forward, pushing him right at the unarmed Eugeo's breastplate, where he would deliver the simple Slant attack at an upward diagonal from the left—

Zora: ?!

As Zora rose, leaning at an extreme forward angle in the process of activating his skill, Eugeo's left hand reached out with the fingers glowing green. Just before Zora's sword could bite into that shining armor, he heard Eugeo announce.

Eugeo: Burst Element.

Five separate wind elements burst from his fingers, enveloping Zora in an explosive gust of wind. As it was just a simple release, it didn't inflict any pain, just force, but that was enough to buffet Zora into the air like a scrap of cloth.

Zora: Arrgh...!

Zora grunted, spreading his arms in a desperate attempt to maintain balance. If Zora hit the wall headfirst, he'd lose over 10 percent of his life. Instead, Zora managed to spin himself so that his feet were pointed toward the onrushing surface.

The instant Zora landed, a tremendous shudder ran through him from feet to head, pressing him to the wall until eventually the numbness subsided and Zora could get back down to the ground. He looked up and saw that Eugeo had been similarly pushed toward the opposite wall, but the extra weight of his armor kept him on the ground. He rose to a standing position again, his face almost obnoxiously calm.

Zora scrambled to his feet after Eugeo and heard a soft voice from his right say.

Alice: Is that person really your partner, Eugeo?

It was Alice, who was standing at the wall and watching the fight, as Zora had asked her to do. He sent the briefest of glances toward the knight in golden armor and hissed back.

Zora: What do you mean? You were the one who said he was synthesized, right?

Alice: That's true, but...I'm not sure how to say this. For someone who just became an Integrity Knight, he seems to accustomed to battle. For instance, the Incarnate Arms skill he used earlier, as well as that Aerial Element skill just now, makes it hard to believe he's a novice.

Zora: So you don't just automatically know these things when you get turned into an Integrity Knight?

Zora asked, just to be sure. Despite the tense circumstances, Zora couldn't help but hunch his shoulders in embarrassment when she snapped at him.

Alice: The knighthood's tools do not simply appear out of thin air! It takes long periods of training with weapon techniques and sacred arts to be able to use them—to say nothing of Incarnate abilities and Perfect Weapon Control!

Zora: Ah. R-right. But then...what was that all about just now...? I didn't think Eugeo was capable of creating five elements on one hand yet...

Alice: Which is why I was asking you if that was really Eugeo!

Zora:...

Zora pursed his lips, staring down the knight in silver armor as Eugeo strode calmly toward him.

Just above them, on the hundredth floor of Central Cathedral, was Administrator, who, along with Cardinal in the Great Library, was the ultimate wielder of sacred arts. She could already alter the memories of people, so perhaps she could also arrange an imposter who was physically identical to the real thing. Yet...

Zora: It's Eugeo.

Eugeo's eyes were dull, his cheeks were pale, and there was no hint of mirth around his mouth, but the Integrity Knight was still none other than Zora's best friend from Rulid. He'd made plenty of mistakes in the Underworld, but Zora was absolutely certain of this one.

How was it that the newest Integrity Knight could wield skills that stunned even Alice, who was third in their rankings? Zora didn't know. Neither did he know how the forced synthesis process took less than an hour for Eugeo, when it traditionally lasted three days and nights.

But no matter how much of a freakish occurrence this might be, there was no arguing with the reality of the situation. Zora had only one course of action: put everything into his sword and swing it. That was all.

Zora sucked in a deep breath, exhaled, and clutched the black blade. Eugeo stopped in the middle of the round room, perhaps sensing Zora's determination, and extended his right hand. Those invisible Incarnate Arms reached out and plucked his longsword from the ceiling, returning it to their master's hand. The Blue Rose Sword would never obey an imposter.

Eugeo deftly spun the impossibly heavy Divine Object and snapped it, still at chest height. There was no opening to exploit.

Alice: Shall I fight him next?

Zora: No, I'll do it.

Zora snapped back, brandishing his own weapon. Eugeo and Alice had grown up together as friends in the village of Rulid, though neither of them could remember it now. He couldn't allow them to fight—and more importantly, it was my job to wake Eugeo up. Alice just took a step back and folded her arms, a sign that she would not interfere, even if it meant Zora's defeat.

Zora: Thank you.

Zora murmured, summoning all his focus to the task at hand. Zora was going to forget every unnecessary thing for the sake of the battle ahead. Zora had to be one with his sword, utilizing every possible trick he knew. There was no way Zora could beat Eugeo the Integrity Knight otherwise—and no way he could speak to his friend's heart, which still beat somewhere beneath that thick metal armor.

The black tip of Zora's sword rang softly. It was like the echo of that rumble of distant thunder on the day they started their journey two years ago, arriving through the mists of time.

Zora(mind): Please, partner. I'll give you a name once all the fighting's done...so for now, give me strength.

Zora pleaded with the trusty weapon in his right hand. When he was done, Zora took a deep breath, steadying himself.

All sounds, scenery, and even sensations faded away. The only things in the world were Zora, his blade, Eugeo, and the Blue Rose Sword. The moment he'd been fearing deep in his subconscious for the past two years had finally arrived.

Zora: Here I come, Eugeo!!

Zora lunged across the floor. Eugeo held his pose, waiting for Zora's strike. He was a fully adept practitioner of both the Aincrad style of swordcraft
and elite sacred arts—mere trickery was meaningless against him. Zora sped across fifty feet of space and used all that momentum for an overhead strike from the right.

Eugeo stomped so hard he might have cracked the floor, unleashing a two-handed upward swing from his own right. Black and white blades clashed, resulting in a bright flash of light. Their weapons bounced back, but Zora calculated there wasn't enough room to try a sword skill. He moved his left hand to the pommel for a two-handed grip. Without fighting against the momentum of the heavy blade, Zora reached an overhand stance with the shortest arc possible.

Zora: Yaaaah!

Zora expelled all his breath and swung downward. Assuming the specs of the sword and wielder alike were identical for both combatants, it was impossible to perfectly parry a direct downward swing at full strength with either a side or a diagonal swing. The only ways to stop it were to use the same attack and expect a mutual defeat or to evade the path of the sword.

But after his strike to the right, Eugeo's sword was still fully extended in that direction. Because his center of gravity was tilted there, too, he couldn't instantly jump back. This time Zora would land my blow!

Zora cast aside all distractions, focusing only on making it as quick and fierce a swing as possible. The tip of the black blade caught the armored left shoulder of his target. No matter how high priority the Integrity Knight armor was, it wasn't tough enough to deflect a blow from a divine weapon without harm.

The sword bit into the metal with a high-pitched screech and continued downward after the briefest moment of resistance. A stream of light ran from Eugeo's left shoulder near his neck to the breastplate.

A moment later, the heavy armor buckled and broke with a sound like shattering glass. The pieces of metal spun into the air, mixed with red spray. It didn't feel very deep, but Zora's sword had undeniably gouged Eugeo's body.

The moment Zora recognized that he'd hurt his friend, Zora felt a terrible cutting pain in the same spot. He couldn't help but grimace with agony, but there was no stopping now. When his vertical swing reached the floor, Zora flipped his wrists and used the rebound to swipe upward this time.

A dull shock ran through his arms, and the sword rebounded sideways.

Eugeo hadn't faltered from the pain of being sliced from shoulder to chest for even an instant. He'd used his right leg's greave to smack Zora's sword out of the way. Realizing that this action also put him in position for a counterattack, Zora felt a wave of horror run down his back and twisted desperately. The Blue Rose Sword came roaring toward Zora from the left.

Zora barely avoided a blow to the neck but couldn't get all the way clear. Eugeo cut a line across Zora's left shoulder. Rather than pain, Zora felt a searing chill there and launched himself off his right foot to throw his wounded shoulder at Eugeo for a body blow.

This time, Zora did feel a blinding pain, and blood spurted into the air. Through the red mist, Zora saw Eugeo steadying himself on his left leg to keep from falling.

A direct counter would be impossible from that position. Zora held his sword to the right, one-handed once again. The black surface of the sword shone pale blue—this would be the diagonal-slash attack Slant. If Zora hit him on the right shoulder, he'd be wounded on both sides and unable to swing the same way again.

Zora: Raaaah!

But right as Zora was about to unleash this attack, a surge of red light shot out from the far side of Eugeo's body.

It was the light of a sword skill. But there was no Aincrad skill that would allow him to attack from a position with his right rear side exposed to Zora. Both stunned and unable to stop the momentum at this point, Zora activated the Slant. A moment later, Eugeo's body spun counterclockwise at ferocious speed. Zora bright-red slash shot toward him from the left.

Zora recognized it as the two-handed skill Backlash—a counterattack skill that worked against a foe standing behind you. But it was a move Zora never taught to Eugeo.

The resulting impact completely jarred these thoughts out of Zora's mind. Zora's Slant and Eugeo's Backlash collided, and their swords rebounded hard. As fresh blood streamed from their shoulders, Eugeo and Zora found themselves readying their swords straight overhead in perfect synchronization.

Two blades shining a deep blue for the single downward strike Vertical.

While it was classified as a vertical strike, the trajectory was not necessarily set in stone. It was common for the angle to tilt as much as ten degrees, according to the position of the dominant hand. Thus, it was possible for two people facing each other to have paths that would intersect and force each of them backward.

It started out that way this time, too. The black and Blue Rose swords met at about a third of the length from their tips, throwing off blinding sparks. But unlike in the old SAO, there were times in the Underworld when two sword skills would meet and not deflect each other. Zora suspected it was when the fierce will to battle—the strength of mental image, or Incarnation—on the part of both combatants acted as a brake on the system's natural tendency to repel the weapons.

The swords were locked together, spraying orange sparks and flashing blue light. In this third stalemate, Eugeo and Zora were thrust face-to-face, their arms and swords locked in total equilibrium as the two of them each tried to follow through and finish the skill. Zora stared into Eugeo's pupils beyond the showering sparks and, through clenched teeth, hissed.

Zora: Does that attack of yours have a name?

With a face as still as a frozen pond, Eugeo replied back.

Eugeo: Baltio style, Storm Wave.

Off the top of his head, Zora couldn't remember where he'd heard that style's name before. Zora frowned, and then it came to him.

Zora: Baltio style? As in Golgorosso-senpai's sword style.

It was the school of swordsmanship practiced by elite disciple Golgorosso Balto, the mentor under whom Eugeo had served as page at the North Centoria Imperial Swordcraft Academy until this March.

Because it was plain and unadorned in comparison to the Norkia and High-Norkia styles, the higher noble students looked down on it, as they did to the Serlut style used by Sortiliena, who was Zora's own tutor.

But in fact, this was just a sign that it was a more practical style. And for the year that he'd been a page, Eugeo had received a thorough education in its ways, courtesy of Golgorosso. And that gave rise to another mystery.

Zora: Eugeo...do you remember the person who taught you that move?

Zora asked again, putting every last ounce of strength into the intersection of their blades. A moment later, Zora got the answer he expected:

Eugeo: I don't know, nor do I care.

He must've been putting just as much of his power into the stalemate as Zora was, but his voice and expression were utterly cold and dry.

Eugeo: She's the only one I need to know. It's for her sake that I can take up my sword, and I live in order to eliminate her enemies.

Zora:...

Zora(mind): So he'd forgotten not only Alice and me but Golgorosso as well. And yet he knew the names of his skills and how to execute them.

Completely resetting the memories of the person being made an Integrity Knight meant that they would lose all that accumulated training and all those learned sacred arts. It was why Administrator had come up with the complicated work- around that was the Synthesis Ritual.

Zora(mind): What kind of memories originally existed where the module's embedded?

Rather than deleting all of the target's memories, it blocked their access, making it impossible to recall what was still there. Zora didn't know the precise logic behind it, but it seemed similar to what they would call retrograde amnesia in the real world: loss of memories of oneself and others, but language and life skills preserved.

The thing blocking the proper flow of Eugeo's memories was the Piety Module that was placed inside his soul, his fluctlight. But whose memories were in the space where the module sat now?

Zora(mind): If I can figure that out...

But no.

Zora(mind): I would need more than just words to break that woman's wicked spell!

He'd traded sword blows with so many people since the very first day he was locked inside the world of Aincrad—Kirito, Philia, Asuna, Suguha, Sinon, Yuuki. And in this world, there had been Sortiliena, first-seat disciple Volo, and knights like Eldrie, Deusolbert, and Fanatio. Even Alice, who was watching this fight from just a short distance away.

Zora(mind): I will infused my very soul into my sword, and reach his!

Swords in the virtual world weren't just polygonal bits of data. Because their lives were resting on them, the feelings that they imbued the blades with could reach the soul of their opponents. Zora chose to believe that a sword freed from hatred could sometimes foster an understanding that surpassed mere words. The blue light of Vertical slowly began to fade from their deadlocked swords. Zora wrung out every last drop of power from his body.

Zora(mind): That's what I'm going to believe!

Zora had to make sure that the entirety of his being was reaching out toward his friend's soul.

Zora: Eugeooooo!!

Zora shouted the moment the sword skill ended, pulling back his sword and he struck with all his might.

Zora: I'm gonna force you to remember everything you cared about!!

Zora's attack was blocked. Eugeo slashed. Zora met his strike at the base of the blade.

Zora: Back in Rulid there's Selka who's waiting for our return!

Their feet stayed in place, where they could keep swinging with the shortest possible range. As Zora started pushing Eugeo with putting everything he's got into his sword.

Zora: At the Swordcraft Academy, Golgorosso was your mentor and Liena was mine!

Zora: And Tiese and Ronie, who worried about us right up till the moment we said goodbye! Come on man...! You gotta remember what your fighting for!! It's to take Alice back home with you!!

A steady stream of clashes and sparks flew, filling the room with sound and light. Eugeo's eyes then widened and he looked at Alice and the Piety Module started to appear on his forehead and Zora started to push him back more.

Zora: Remember dammit! All of it! Eugeooooooooo!!!!!!

Eugeo: Seyyyaaaaah!!

Eugeo added, his first roar of the fight.

Zora(mind): Faster. Faster!

Zora strung together a continuous line of attacks—no skills or form or strategy, just pure instinct—and Eugeo kept up perfectly. With each trade of blows, Zora sensed the invisible shell around Eugeo cracking.

Eventually Zora realized that he had a fierce grin on his lips. He recalled that there was a time long ago that Eugeo and him had fought wildly like this, a good liberating sword brawl. It wasn't in the training hall at the academy. Not along the journey to Centoria. No, it was in the fields and forests close to Rulid...they pretended they were practicing with their swords, using wooden blades that were practically toys...whacking one another like rambunctious little boys...

But did Eugeo and Zora really do that, right after they met in the woods two years ago?

Zora(mind): What was that...? It feels so nostalgic. Were those cracks actually...in my memory......?

A sharper metallic clang broke Zora's momentary trance. The black sword and the Blue Rose Sword met at the perfect angle again, canceling out each other's momentum, falling still where they crossed.

Zora:...Eugeo...?

Zora saw Eugeo's lips move in response. Zora didn't hear his voice, but Zora could tell that the knight in silver and blue had murmured his name.

His normally smooth, pale forehead was now creased and jagged. Zora could see teeth clenched shut through his parted lips and a weak flicker of light in his cold, dark eyes. They looked over Zora's shoulder at Alice, who was hanging back along the wall. His lips trembled again, forming Alice's name with no voice behind them.

Zora: Eugeo...Do you remember, Eugeo?!

Zora called out. That caused his blade to slip. It was unable to withstand the full pressure of the Blue Rose Sword and faltered backward. Zora lost his balance and had to struggle to stay on his feet. He knew he was a sitting duck—but Eugeo did nothing to follow up. He just stood there, holding his sword out at an odd angle.

Zora retreated and came to a stop near Alice, sucked in a deep breath, and expelled all of it at once.

Zora: Eugeooooo!!

Eugeo flinched, and his downcast face slowly rose. It was as pale as ever, but this time there was true expression upon it. Confusion, anxiety, regret, and affection...All these emotions that had been frozen by the ritual combined into one faint smile that seemed to shake the shell of thick ice that surrounded him, just a bit.

Eugeo:...Zora.

Eugeo said, and a moment later...

Eugeo: Alice...

Zora heard it clearly this time. Eugeo spoke their names out loud. It had worked. Zora's sword...reached Eugeo...crossing the boundaries that separated his heart from him.

Zora: Eugeo... You remember... don't you?

The thin smile that rested on his lips deepened. He spun the Blue Rose Sword around in his hand to hold it in a reverse grip. His arm lowered until the tip of the sword landed on the marble floor. It crackled, and the slightly misty weapon sank in about an inch.

Zora: Eu...geo...

Zora saw that as a sign that the battle was over, and he lowered his sword. The breath he'd been holding escaped, and Zora took a step forward with his right leg. But the next moment was just the start of a series of events Zora failed to predict.

Alice: Zora!

That was Alice, calling Zora over his shoulder. Zora hadn't sensed her coming; her left arm circled around his torso and lifted him up straight. Then more words escaped from Eugeo's lips.

Eugeo: Release Recollection...

That was the phrase. The initiation of the greatest of battle abilities in the Underworld, calling forth the memory of the weapon and unlocking the true heart of superpowered Perfect Weapon Control—the secret of Memory Release. Bright blue-white light shot from his sword.

Zora couldn't dodge or defend against it. Absolute cold spread from the blade, instantly freezing the entirety of the vast chamber. The mouth of the descending staircase in the corner of the room, the levitating disc that went up to the top floor, and both Alice and Zora were frozen solid up to their chests in thick, immobilizing ice. If Alice hadn't straightened him up, the ice would have swallowed Zora's head.

When they came across Bercouli Synthesis One in the great bath on the ninety-fifth floor of the cathedral, he had been frozen up to his neck like this. Eugeo's Memory Release power was strong enough to freeze an entire pool of hot bathwater so fast that even the oldest of the knights wasn't able to escape. Zora hadn't forgotten or overlooked that, but there wasn't even any water to freeze on this floor. And he hadn't generated a huge number of ice elements to make use of—where had all this ice come from?

But even that wasn't the shocking part.

Zora(mind); Why did Eugeo do it? He just got his memory back; why would he need to lock me and Alice in ice?

Against the all-consuming, piercing chill, Zora just barely had the strength to make his mouth form the words

Zora: Eugeo...why......?

About fifty feet away, Eugeo got back to his feet easily and favored him with a sad little smile.

Eugeo: I'm sorry, Zora...and Alice. Please don't come after me...

And then Zora's best friend, and Alice's childhood companion, pulled the Blue Rose Sword from the floor and headed for the levitating disc in the center of the chamber.

The large marble platform, like the staircase along with Zora and Alice, was covered in thick ice, but the knight simply walked over it and jabbed the end of the sword down lightly. It began to rise, ice shards cracking and sprinkling off.

As the disc ascended, Zora saw that smile stay on Eugeo's face, an expression attempting to withstand a whole host of conflicting emotions, until he eventually vanished through the hole above.

Zora:...Eu...ge...oooooo!!

Zora screamed, but it was drowned out by the hard, heavy sound of the disc fitting seamlessly back into the ceiling.

(Timeskip)

As Zora and Alice were still frozen within Eugeo's Memory Release, Chudelkin arrived into the now frozen room and saw both Zora and Alice frozen.

Chudelkin: The looks on their faces, I would love to just keep you both and on my wall.

Chudelkin then smugly looks at the frozen Zora and into his eyes and Zora's blue eyes then had a yellow glint in his eyes and Chudelkin looked at him confused and he then heard the sound of ice melting and he looked and saw Zora's sword glowing orange and suddenly, Zora shattered the ice and lunged at Chudelkin, using the Sword skill [Howling Octave] and hit him with the 8 hits Sword skill and making his fat body deflate. To which Chudelkin immediately fall back surprised.

Chudelkin: T-That traitor! He went easy on you, didn't he!

Zora: Oh, no. Eugeo came out me with everything he had.

Zora then points his sword at Chudelkin and he looked at him nervously and then turned into a ball and ran away up the lift. Zora was about to pursue but looked back and saw Alice the golden knight had using her Perfect Weapon Control art to break out off the ice. The knight looked at Zora back. Neither of them said a word and walked towards the disc to the 100th floor and as they were rising up into the room, Zora had felt sense the power and Death.

Zora(mind): This pressure...This sense of Death...I've only felt this type of death from one other person...

Zora step towards the disc descending up. On the other hand, Chudelkin was crawling toward the bed, babbling furiously the entire time, until a hand reached up through the hole in the floor and grabbed his right foot.

Chudelkin: Eeeeeeeek!!

Chudelkin squealed, eyes bulging, and kicked his legs. The pointed clown shoe popped off, and the momentum caused his little body to roll. The prime senator leaped to his feet, bounded for the bed, peeled the hanging canopy curtain aside, and wriggled into the darkness between it and the floor.

The pontifex, who was standing on the bed, stared down at the hole in the floor with a smile on her face, all thought of the prime senator's miserable state banished. Eugeo was prepared to attack at once if she showed hostility, but for now she seemed content to wait for her guest to appear.

Eugeo glanced back at the levitating platform. The hand that had grasped Chudelkin's shoe was still fully extended. The black sleeve slid downward, revealing an arm that was thin but finely muscled.

How many times had those arms saved Eugeo?

In fact, for as long as he could remember, he'd been led around by that hand. Even now, after Eugeo had gone the wrong way and turned his sword on the owner of that arm, the advance continued.

The disc continued rising.

Next to appear was black hair, still tousled from battle. Then two eyes bluer than the stars in the night sky beyond the windows and yet brighter than the stars. Lastly, a mouth curved into a cocky grin...

Eugeo:.........Zora...

Eugeo's voice was trembling. It wasn't loud enough to be audible over ten mels away, but his friend glanced toward him along the wall anyway and nodded, smile never wavering. It was a gesture that was warm and heartening, just like all the ones he'd made since the moment they'd met. The disc finally came to a heavy, grinding stop.

Eugeo(mind): Zora...there you are...

Something deep inside him throbbed with an emotion he couldn't even name. But that pain wasn't an unpleasant one. It was certainly much gentler than the suffering he'd felt when the Piety Module was jammed into his head— and more wistful and sweet. As he watched, frozen in place, his partner and teacher dressed in black smirked.

Zora: Yo, Eugeo.

Eugeo: I told you not to come.

His partner hurled Chudelkin's silly shoe and beamed even harder.

Zora: When have I ever followed the instructions you gave to me?

Eugeo:......Good point. You've always.........been like......

He couldn't find the words. He meant to pay for the crime of attacking his friend by sacrificing his life. He was going to use that secret weapon from Cardinal to pierce Administrator's skin, even if he had to get torn to pieces to do it. And now he was reunited with Zora again, without having completed this duty. But no. It was Zora's own will that had brought him here.

He'd broken through Eugeo's Perfect Control art, defeated Prime Senator Chudelkin, and reached the hundredth floor while Eugeo was still alive.

Eugeo(mind): Yes, I'm still alive. And I still have the dagger hanging from my wrist. Which means now is the time to fight. That's the one thing I can do.

Eugeo turned away from his partner and looked to the center of the chamber. Administrator waited on the massive bed, an enigmatic smile playing across her lips. Her mirror eyes caught the moonlight but, as usual, did not reveal any emotion of their own. All that was clear was that she was watching this new visitor and thinking about something.

He had to explain to Zora before the battle resumed. He had to tell him that her flesh was protected by a barrier that blocked all metal—and that it wasn't infallible.

Without taking his eyes off the pontifex, Eugeo began moving toward his partner.

Just then, there was the sound of metal shifting from the direction he was moving. He had to break his gaze to look over. To Zora's right, another figure strode forward from the thick shadow cast by the pillar between the windowpanes.

Golden hair and armor sparkled in the light of the moon. At the left side of the figure's waist was the Osmanthus Blade, a Divine Object with a hilt fashioned like flower petals. A white skirt billowed below.

The Integrity Knight Alice Synthesis Thirty.

Eugeo had seen her working with Zora already on the ninety-ninth floor. But seeing them standing together like this made his chest throb even harder. His legs stopped moving toward Zora of their own accord.

Alice stared at the pontifex, then at Eugeo.

Eugeo: Alice...

The golden knight gave him a nodded. The right side of her face was covered in the dark bandage still. Integrity Knights were known for being excellent arts casters, so she should have been able to heal her eye in an instant. Perhaps she was leaving it as it was in order to feel the pain.

Her deep-blue left eye was full of conflicting emotions as she looked over Eugeo. It wasn't at all like the impassive, cold gaze she'd had down on the eightieth floor. This time, it was full of human emotion.

She hadn't recovered her Alice Zuberg memories yet, but there had been massive change within Alice the knight in a short amount of time. And the obvious cause of that was the black-haired swordsman standing next to her. Zora's words had pierced the unmeltable ice that surrounded her heart.

And if, somehow, they could recover the memory fragment that Administrator was hiding somewhere in this room and return Alice to her old self, then Alice the knight would go back to being Alice Zuberg, Eugeo's childhood friend.

And it meant that Alice the knight, the one who had spoken to Zora, sheathed her sword, and withstood the pain of losing her eye in order to fight back against the Axiom Church, would vanish.

That was Eugeo's greatest wish and the reason he had fought so hard to get here. But how did the present Alice understand this? And Zora...He had fought to the death against Vice Commander Fanatio, only to save her life afterward. Did he really desire for Alice the knight to be eliminated forever...?

Eugeo took a deep breath, let it out, and forced himself to stop thinking about it. He had to focus on this, the final fight. He'd been able to let his mind wander because Administrator was passively letting the situation play out, but she could resume attacking at any time.

He tore his eyes from Alice and looked back at the center of the room, resuming his march. He sidled across the moonlit floor until he was next to Zora at last. Then he pressed the Blue Rose Sword into the floor again with a sharp exhale, resting his weight on it. The Rulid Trio was once again standing side by side.

Zora: Are you hurt? It's not...my fault, is it?

Eugeo:...

The fact that his partner was willing to let that simple statement cover everything that had happened on the floor below them brought an unexpected smile to Eugeo's lips.

Eugeo: You never hit me with your sword, not once. I had a run-in with a pillar.

Zora: You could've waited until we got up here.

Eugeo: I was the one who trapped you to keep you down there, Zora.

Zora: As if I was weak enough that something like that would stop me.

Zora snorted. Bantering with him like this reminded Eugeo of before they'd split apart at the eightieth floor...like the times back at the dorm of the academy. The throbbing in his chest lessened just a bit.

But what happened had happened and would never go away. He had given in to Administrator's temptations and attacked his best friend, a crime that no amount of words would lessen. Eugeo pursed his lips and gripped the hilt of his sword. Zora stared at the middle of the room where the naked girl stand until eventually he muttered.

Zora: Is that Administrator? The pontifex of the Church?

Alice: That's right. She hasn't changed at all after 6 years.

After this direct mention, Administrator finally broke her long silence.

Quinella: Oh, my...I've never had so many guests in this chamber at one time. Do I recall, Chudelkin, that you insisted I leave the fate of Alice and the irregular boy to you?

The curtains hanging around the side of the bed parted from the inside, and a very large head popped out. Prime Senator Chudelkin rubbed his forehead nervously and craned his neck at an angle that suggested he'd made some kind of mistake.

Chudelkin: Hoh, hoh-hee! W-w-w-well, I assure you, Your Holiness, I fought as bravely as a lion for your sake...

Quinella: You mentioned that already.

Chudelkin: Hwaaaa! I-it is not my fault, oh-hooo! Number Thirty-Two was sloppy and only half encased them in the ice...And Number Thirty, that hideous gold knight, had the gall to utilize her Memory Release ability on me! Though I'm not so flimsy as to let that gaudy little princess's secret technique put a single scratch on me, hoh-hee-hee-hee!

Alice: Anyone but him.

Alice muttered darkly. Chudelkin didn't notice—he spun around and looked up at Administrator, who was standing upon the bed, and screeched.

Chudelkin: In fact, it was Number One and Number Two who started it by going mad! I can only assume that their idiocy has now infected Number Thirty!

Quinella: Ah...now be quiet.

Administrator commanded. Chudelkin shut his mouth and froze where he lay on the floor. But he kept his eyes wide open, which he seemed to be doing in order to drink in the sight of the pontifex's nakedness.

Administrator's silver eyes were fixed on Alice and totally unconcerned with whatever the prime senator was doing. She inclined her head in curiosity.

Quinella: It was almost time to reset Bercouli and Fanatio, but I've only used you for 6 years, right? Your logic circuits don't seem to be malfunctioning. Could it be the influence of that irregular unit? How amusing.

Eugeo didn't understand anything of what she was saying. But there was something in the silver-haired woman's tone of voice that made him shiver— like a shepherd speaking about a sheep or a craftswoman about her tools.

Quinella: Hey, Alice, there must be something you want to say to me. I won't get mad. So say it now.

Administrator said with a faint smile, taking a step forward atop the bed.

Alice took a similar step backward, as though pushed by an invisible wall. To his surprise, Eugeo saw that the knight's profile looked even paler than the moonlight, and her lips were clenched shut. But Alice stood firm and reached up with her bare hand to touch the bandage over her right eye. Then her withdrawn leg took a step forward instead, as if the scrap of cloth had given her strength.

The sound of her foot was sharp and crisp, as though there wasn't any carpet underneath. The golden knight, instead of kneeling before her master, thrust her chest forward and declared.

Alice: Lady Pontifex, our glorious order of Integrity Knights has been destroyed as of today. All because of swords of the two rebels beside me, as well the endless obsession and deception you built along with this tower.

Zora(mind): Ooh, well said.

Given the weight of the situation, Zora suppose his own reaction was a bit less than totally serious. But if Zora didn't treat it that lightly, the freezing tone would have overwhelmed him and caused him to back down.

When they arrived at the hundredth floor of Central Cathedral at last, it was a circular chamber well over a hundred feet across. In the middle of the room was a massive circular bed, and that seemed to be the only piece of furniture.

And atop the bed, without a stitch of clothing covering her body, was a breathtakingly beautiful woman.

She was, without a doubt, the absolute ruler of the Axiom Church and thus of the human race as a whole: Administrator. But her sense of presence was so great that just by standing there, she made me instantly lose sight of the fact that this was actually a virtual world called the Underworld and that she and all the other people here were "artificial fluctlights," AI routines saved on an artificial medium in the real world.

But in fact, Zora didn't need to see her brilliant silvery hair and mirrorlike eyes first. From the moment he'd first stepped onto the platform that would take him up to this floor, his palms had been sweaty, and cold fear had gripped his spine. As he had looked through the hole in the ceiling directly above him and into the darkness that awaited, he had felt an aura of death more thick and cold than in any of the boss chambers in the original Aincrad.

The real him—not Zora the elite disciple but the actual Sora Kirigaya/ Sora Yatagami -wouldn't die inside The Soul Translator if Zora lost all his life value here in the Underworld. But the entity known as Administrator had the ability to inflict suffering on him that far surpassed death.

In fact, hadn't Cardinal said that Administrator wasn't bound by the Taboo Index she herself had created but instead was still restricted by the conceptual taboos that she'd been raised with? That murder was the one thing she couldn't commit?

But because of that limitation, she could inflict pain that was far more horrible than logging out of the Underworld—Zora could wind up like those senators, living like a machine hooked up to a feeding tube, forever.

Of course, just because Zora understood more about the underlying situation than Alice or Eugeo did didn't mean that his fear was greater than theirs.

Administrator had removed Eugeo's Piety Module herself, but Alice's was still embedded in her fluctlight. Zora couldn't begin to imagine how frightening it must have been for her to face off against her absolute ruler.

And yet the golden knight held her head high and proud as she declared.

Alice: My ultimate mission is to safeguard a tranquil lifestyle and peaceful sleep for those without swords. Therefore, Lady Pontifex, your actions are unquestionably detrimental of the well being of those who reside in the Human Empire.

Alice's golden hair shone, lit with righteous purpose. Her voice cut crisply through the heavy, cold gloom, keeping it at bay. But the pontifex didn't express any anger at Alice's bold castigation. If anything, her lips curled with entertainment. Instead, it was Prime Senator Chudelkin—who was hiding under the bed for some reason—whose hideous screeching voice rent the air.

Chudelkin: S-s-sileeeeence!!

Chudelkin hurtled out of the hanging sheet and performed a series of somersaults before popping to his feet. He wobbled a bit from all the rotation but recovered to express his full indignation in the space between them and the pontifex.

As usual, his slipperiness was impressive. Despite the damage to his clothes, he retreated without suffering much injury himself, but now, on the top floor, there was no escape. With the mighty Administrator behind him, however, he was bold again, throwing his hands into the air and then jutting both pointer fingers at Alice.

Chudelkin: Why, you half-broken little toy knight! Your duty?! To protect?! How you make me laugh! Hohhhh-hoh-hoh-hoh-hohhhhh!!

He did a little spin, causing the tattered shreds of his clothing to lift up into the air, exposing striped red-and-blue underpants. Then he put his hands on his hips and stuck out his left foot at her this time.

Chudelkin: You knights are nothing more than puppets that act on my command!! If I tell you to lick my boot, you will lick it! If I say that you are my steed, you will carry me on your back!! That is the duty you knights are blessed to have!!

He lost his balance and nearly toppled over backward due to his massive head, but the wild swinging of his arms helped him stay on his feet.

Chudelkin: More importantly,the idea that the knighthood is destroyed is absolute poppycock! Less than ten overall, including the worthless old Number One and Two, were damaged at all! In other words, I have more than twenty pawns still remaining! One single member mouthing off does not even begin to affect the ironclad rule of the Church, you hideous, shining wench!!

Ironically, the clown's vulgar insults succeeded only at calming Alice's nerves. She was back to her sharp, rational nature. With a shake of her head Alice snorted back.

Alice: You are the fool here, scarecrow. Are there brains in that oversize head of yours, or just straw and scraps of cloth?

Chudelkin: Wha...whaaaaa—?!

The blood rushed to his crimson head until he was fully purple. But before he could scream whatever came to his mind, Alice icily continued.

Alice: Of the remaining twenty knights, half of them are immobile at the moment, due to the pontifex's so-called reset to modify their memories with sacred arts. And the other half are on their dragons, fighting at the End Mountains. You cannot call them back here now. If you did, the forces of darkness would immediately pile through the caves in the north, west, and south parts of the mountains, as well as the Eastern Gate, and cause the Axiom Church's rule to crumble.

Chudelkin: Nng...hrrgg...!

Chudelkin's face was now turning from purple to black. But Alice wasn't done yet.

Alice: In fact, it is already crumbling. Those ten knights and their dragons cannot fight forever. But the cathedral no longer has any knights in reserve to replace them. Or will you venture into the Dark Territory yourself, Chudelkin, and bravely battle with the fearsome dark knights?

Zora couldn't help but feel a bit self-conscious about that remark. The backup knights—like Eldrie and Deusolbert and the Four Whirling Blades—had just been hospitalized because of Eugeo and him. Still, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Chudelkin's head reaching the limit of its internal pressure.

Chudelkin: Mwa-hohhhhh!! You—you—you sneaky little—!! Do you think you've gotten the better of us with that, you miserable whelp?!

Chudelkin screamed, like a kettle letting off steam, his feet stomping the floor in a childish tantrum.

Chudelkin: As punishment for this absolute insolence, you'll be sent to the mountains for three years once you've been reset! Oh, but before all of that, I'll keep you for my personal plaything!!

He began to screech about exactly the sorts of things that he would force Alice to do, until a word from Administrator behind him instantly shut him up.

Quinella: Hmm.

He went stock-still and silent, his face returning to its original color. The pontifex ignored him and turned to Alice.

Quinella: No, it doesn't seem to be a logic- circuit error. And your Piety Module is still functional...Does that mean you independently removed the Code 871 that was installed for me...? And not just on a sudden emotional burst...?

Zora(mind): What is she talking about? I wondered, scowling. Installed? By whom...? Code Eight-Seven-One...? The seal of the right eye?

The silver-haired young woman was not forthcoming with more information, however. She swept the hair hanging on her shoulders back and changed gears.

Quinella: Well, I won't know anything more unless I run an analysis. Now then. Chudelkin? Since I'm so generous, I'm giving you a chance to restore your ruined reputation. Let's see you render those three powerless with your arts.

When she was done speaking, she waved her right pointer finger. Instantly, the massive bed beneath her feet rumbled into rotation. Zora's eyes bugged out. Like an enormous screw, the forty-foot-wide bed began to descend into the floor. Chudelkin squealed and darted away from it.

Eventually, the entire bed had fit itself snugly into the floor, even the hanging canopy, such that there was nothing but carpet with a large circle drawn on it. A moment later, Administrator descended to the floor without a sound.

On a sudden whim, Zora glanced down at his own feet and saw that there was a similar circle in the carpet where the levitating disc had brought us up. Zora guessed that the room must be designed so that everything extended and retracted into the floor that way, but a glance around the room revealed that there was only one other circle, a small one on the far wall across from us. Zora couldn't begin to guess what it contained.

Once the bed was gone, the top floor of the tower seemed shockingly vast.

The circular walls were all made of perfectly unblemished, crystal clear glass, meaning that only the golden pillars supported the domed ceiling. The dome was decorated with art that seemed to be depicting the genesis of the world, and crystals affixed all over the display blinked and glimmered like stars.

What did surprise him was the sword-themed golden decorations that adorned all the pillars. The smaller ones were still over three feet long, and the longest nearly ten. The hilts were quite small, though, so it was clearly impossible to pull them off the wall and use them as weapons. The edges didn't look very sharp, either.

Otherwise, the hundredth floor of the cathedral was the worst kind of place to fight someone who could cast sacred arts: wide open with nothing to hide behind. I put weight into my right foot, preparing to leap forward on Chudelkin before he could start chanting.

But before Zora could execute his plan, Alice shook her head.

Alice: It's dangerous to just charge in. The pontifex will have an art that can capture us alive if she simply touches us. The reason she allowed Chudelkin to go first is undoubtedly to give herself a better chance to make contact with us.

Eugeo: Now that you mention it, I have a feeling that she chose not to kill me, when she certainly could have. And when the prime senator turned Bercouli to stone, he was riding on him...touching him directly.

Zora: Okay. So it works on contact with the target.

Propelled attack arts like fireballs or ice blades notwithstanding, any kind of art that had a specific target, as a general rule, required that the caster make contact with that target, even if just on the leg or foot. It was one of the fundamental rules of the sacred arts that any novice at the academy would learn. In other words, as long as Zora, Eugeo and Alice didn't let Chudelkin or Administrator actually touch them, they didn't have to worry about falling prey to that horrifying petrification ability. But at the same time, that meant we couldn't get within sword-swinging range.

That ultimately left them at a disadvantage. In terms of sacred arts, Eugeo and Zora were nothing compared to Alice, and in a battle of long-distance attacks, even the three of them together were likely to get outgunned against the prime senator.

Zora bit his lip, thinking hard.

Eugeo: Plus...the pontifex has a full-body—

Whatever he was trying to say got cut off by Chudelkin, who sprang up from his sitting position.

Chudelkin: Y-Y-Your Eminence, Pontifex!

Quinella: What, Chudelkin?

Chudelkin then bowed to Quinella and everyone looked at him confused.

Chudelkin: I, Prime Senator Chudelkin, for the first time in my many years of service, beg to present to you a most insolent request! I shall gladly risk my life annihilating these rebel. Therefore! Once I've carried out my mission, if your Eminence...Y-Your Eminence...if you would allow me to touch your exalted body with my own hands and kiss you....A-A-And then spend the night of my dreams with you...Please...please...please grant me that wish!

Zora(mind): -_- Well, that's one way to make a bold request of the absolute ruler of all humanity.

But there was clearly no doubt that this was a scream from the heart, an absolutely true confession of real emotion from the very depth of Chudelkin's soul. It was so far beyond pathos now that it was genuinely heroic. Neither Zora, nor Eugeo, nor Alice could move a muscle.

Zora:...

Eugeo:...

Alice:...

Floating on the other end of the room, Administrator reacted to Chudelkin's request by...curving her pale lips into a smile that suggested nothing could be funnier. Her mirror eyes, which reflected all light, now wavered between scorn and mockery. But when she spoke, covering her mouth with her hand, the voice that emerged was full of benevolence that was at odds with her expression.

Quinella: Very well, Chudelkin. I swear on the Goddess of Creation, Stacia. When you've fulfilled your mission, every inch of my body will be yours for the taking, for one night.

Because Zora came from the real world, with all its lies and deceptions, it was laughably obvious to him that she didn't mean a word of that promise.

But the people of this world, probably due to the structure of their artificial fluctlights, were unable to disobey the laws and rules that existed on a higher level of importance than them. These laws ran from local precepts of villages and towns to Basic Imperial Law to the Taboo Index and even to personal oaths sworn to the gods.

The higher up in the ruling structures one was, the fewer number of laws that applied, but even Cardinal and Administrator, the very highest of managers in this system, were still subject to them. The range of activities that their parents had limited them to in their youth was still active. Hence, Cardinal couldn't put her teacup directly on the table, and Administrator couldn't kill human beings.

But Administrator had just proven to Zora in person that she was no longer bound by her own oaths to her gods. It was clear evidence that she did not have a shred of belief in Stacia, Solus, Terraria, Lunaria, or Izanami, the 4 goddesses and 1 god at the center of the Axiom Church's influence.

Naturally, Chudelkin was unable to see through his master's deception. He heard what she said, her words dripping with derision, and his eyes filled once again with bulging tears.

Chudelkin: I am overcome with supreme joy at this moment. And now...and now, I...My fighting spirit's been amplified! I'm overcoming with energy! To be more specific... I am invincible!!!!

His tears sizzled and evaporated, and suddenly Chudelkin's entire body was glowing a furious, flaming red color.

Chudelkin: Sys! Tem! Caaaall!! Generate...Therrrmaaal...Elemennnnnnntoah!!

His limbs sliced the air, fully extended and straight, down to the fingertips, at the ends of which appeared a multitude of burning red dots. From Zora's position standing behind Alice, he could keenly sense that this was Chudelkin's last and greatest attack.

Chudelkin's balancing entirely on his head meant that his legs no longer had to support his body. But clearly, having the strength of mind and imagination to separately envision and control all ten toes in addition to his fingers required great practice.

While his eccentric appearance and personality drew all the attention, Prime Senator Chudelkin clearly had as much training as the oldest of the Integrity Knights—if not more—and was a tremendous foe in his own right.

His eyes narrowed in a gloating manner, as if he sensed Zora's fear—and then they bulged as far as they could. His tiny pupils shone with red light, turning Zora's fear into shock. At first, Zora almost thought he was like a classic heroic protagonist whose blood burned so passionately that his eyes turned into literal flames...but then Zora realized his mistake.

The "flames" Zora saw burning right in front of Chudelkin's eyes were actually large heat elements. He could use even his own two eyes as control vectors...They were the twenty-first and twenty-second elements under his control.

Before being expended, the elements in waiting did release a small amount of their resources into the nearby air. Having heat elements an inch or two away from your fingertips caused a bit of a prickling sensation, but Zora could tell that having larger elements so very close to one's eyeballs couldn't be safe. Soon the skin around his eyes was fizzling and charring.

But the prime senator didn't seem to feel any heat or pain. With his eye sockets blackening, his strange face looked downright demonic. He grinned wickedly and screamed in ear-piercing falsetto.

Chudelkin: Witness, my greatest of sacred aaaaaarts...Come forth, genie, and burn these rebels into ash!!

He pulled his limbs in, then swung them about with blinding speed. The twenty elements didn't change form immediately but flew into the air in parallel lines of five each, hurtling through the space between him and us with startling velocity.

To Zora's stunned disbelief, the glowing red lines came together to depict a very large human. It had short legs. A bulging gut. Oddly long arms. And a head wearing a crown with several spikes on it. It was an enormous clown, as if Chudelkin's original puffed-up form had grown to several times its size.

The last of the elements filled in the crimson stripes that made up the suit of the twenty-foot-tall burning clown, and then they vanished. Its face, which was so high Zora had to crane his neck to see it, was based on Chudelkin's features but looked many times more cruel. A tongue of flames licked out of its heavy lips, and the fissures that represented its eyes exuded a gaze that was paradoxically freezing cold.

Now that he was done waving his limbs around to create the flaming clown, Chudelkin at last closed his eyes so hard it was audible. The last two heat elements shot forth and took hold in the dark sockets of the clown to form burning red eyes.

The enormous clown glared at Zora, Eugeo and Alice with horrifying malice—it was as though Chudelkin's very soul had transferred to it. It lifted the pointed boot of its right foot and pressed it down on the ground in front of it. The floor rumbled, and a great billow of flame erupted from the giant's foot, singeing and hazing the air around it.