No one's POV

Eugeo and Zora were stunned into silence during the entire display. Chudelkin had just used an enormous sacred art to create a flame monster. It wasn't until Alice's interjection that we snapped out of it and brandished our swords once more.

Alice: I had no idea he was capable of such an art.

Alice whispered. Her words were as precise and controlled as ever, but Zora didn't miss the slight wobbliness in her voice.

Alice: It seems we misread Chudelkin. Unfortunately, I can't destroy that intangible flame faint with my flowers. If I were to focus on defense, I couldn't hold it off for long.

Zora: Meaning that in the meantime, we'll have to do the job of attacking Chudelkin's actual body.

Alice: Exactly. I'll find a way to avert him for 10 seconds. Zora, Eugeo, please take that opportunity to attack Chudelkin. But remember not to get too close or else the Pontifex will target you.

Zora: 10...

Eugeo: Seconds...

Eugeo and Zora shared a look and groaned.

When they'd fought on the floor below, Eugeo had overpowered Zora with his icy impassiveness, but after his knighthood had been undone, he'd gotten his emotions back. Oddly enough, the sight of fear and hesitation in his face made Zora a bit happy. It was reassuring.

But this was time to think. If Alice just wanted Zora and Eugeo to rush Chudelkin while she handled the fire clown, they had several options. Zora had taken on that role many times against floor bosses in Aincrad, and Chudelkin ought to be defenseless while he was controlling the clown.

On the other hand, there was no guarantee that Administrator would stay still and watch while they charged. So the two had to their our distance as they attacked. Being swordsmen, there were only two ways for them to attack from a distance.

One was using sacred arts. But with the level of arts that Eugeo and Zora were capable of casting, he couldn't imagine that they could break through Chudelkin's defenses to actually do serious damage to his life.

The other was the ace up our sleeve, Perfect Weapon Control—but this had a weakness. Activating it demanded the chanting of the extremely long command that Cardinal put together for them. It would take well over ten seconds. As an Integrity Knight, Eugeo had used Perfect Control without a vocal command, but Zora didn't think he could do it again now. He certainly couldn't.

Zora:...!

Zora ground his teeth in frustration. The burning clown moved forward mockingly, its body swaying and wavering in the heat. The movement was far from agile, but its size was all that mattered. Each step brought it several feet closer.

Once it was close enough that Zora could feel the heat radiating against his skin, Alice moved at last. She swung the Osmanthus Blade high overhead. Her free left hand was straight backward, and her legs were wide apart front and back, as tense as bowstrings.

A whirlwind gust erupted at Alice's feet, fluttering her long white skirt and golden hair. The Osmanthus Blade shone with golden light and split into hundreds of petals that began to glide through the air in a line.

Alice: Spin, my flowers!!

The golden petals swirled at such a high speed that they became individually invisible, melting into a blur that grew into a huge tornado. When grinding the ice cube, she'd created a cone with a sharp, focused point, but this was now the reverse. It was like a funnel that grew into the air at a diagonal from Alice's hand, over fifteen feet across at the widest end. The rotating golden storm sucked in the air around it, sending out random gusts that buffeted Zora's body and Eugeo's.

The flame clown was so close it could practically flatten them. Smirking all the while, it launched itself into a jump nearly to the ceiling and came down fearlessly into the middle of Alice's tornado. There was a sizzling sound like a furnace bubbling away, so loud that it drowned out all other sound.

The fire clown's feet were swallowed up in the nearly vertical golden tornado. Ripped apart by the rapidly spinning blades, the flame burst apart in all directions like sparks, singeing the air.

But the clown maintained its enormous size, still holding that hideous smile that stretched from one side of its face to the other. Ever so slowly, it began to stomp on the tornado. Directly underneath, Alice's legs were trembling, and there was ferocious concentration on what Zora could see of her face.

The tiny petals began to take on the heat, turning red from the clown's powerful flame. Even now, Alice and her Osmanthus Blade were undoubtedly taking steady, solid life damage.

Eight seconds left.

It was impossible to defeat Chudelkin with sacred arts. There wasn't enough time for Perfect Control. The only things Zora had on his side were the black sword in his hand and the techniques that were fully committed to muscle memory.

During the two years he'd spent here, Zora had practiced and repracticed countless sword skills so that he could teach Eugeo all about the Aincrad style. In the process, he'd realized that in this world, sword skills could sometimes exhibit a power that far surpassed their original specs in the game of SAO.

That was because in the Underworld, much of the outcome of actions was determined not by system calculation but by the strength of the user's will and imagination. The little spider named Charlotte and Alice the Integrity Knight had called this power Incarnation.

In other words, here, the power and range of sword skills that were strictly defined in the old Aincrad might actually be augmented by the power of Incarnation.

But on the other hand, it also meant that negative emotions like fear, timidness, and hesitation could weaken the same skills.

There was a strong, fundamental desire within him to distance himself from the Zora avatar he had cultivated in the SAO days: the Night Sky Swordsman and the Dual Blades and Triple Blades master. Zora wasn't able to analyze the precise cause of that feeling. Maybe it was a desire not to be treated like a hero. Maybe it was guilt over those people whose lives he'd failed to save or ended. Either one could be true, but it might also have been something completely different that Zora had yet to figure out.

All he knew for certain was that no matter how much he might dislike it, Zora the Night Sky Swordsman was a part of him, had helped shape who he was now, and was giving him strength.

The same man who'd fought in that world—the same Zora—was still here.

Seven seconds left.

With the heat of the giant stomping on Alice's tornado plastering Zora's cheeks, he turned his stance to the right and lowered his waist. Zora lifted the black sword to the level of his shoulder, laid it perfectly flat, and pulled back. Zora's left hand provided catapulting leverage.

He hadn't used this skill or taught it to Eugeo or even attempted re-creating it yet. And he knew why: Because this sword skill was the one the Night Sky Swordsman knew best of all and used the most often. It was his symbol.

On a straight line from the end of the slightly translucent black sword and about fifty feet away was the upside-down Prime Senator Chudelkin. His seared eyes were still closed, but he was obviously using some means of sharing the sight of his flaming clown. He should have noticed Zora's motion already.

There would be only one shot at an attack. Zora couldn't let Chudelkin defend or evade it. In that sense, fifty feet was such a tremendously long distance. Balancing on his head meant Chudelkin couldn't move quickly, but Zora had already seen plenty of the little clown's resilience in a pinch. Zora needed Chudelkin's attention diverted away from him, if just for a quarter of a second.

Six seconds left.

With as few words as possible, Zora whispered to his partner.

Zora: His eye.

Eugeo: Got it.

His response was so immediate, so primed to go, that Zora glanced at Eugeo and saw that there was now a shining arrow of ice in Eugeo's right hand. It wasn't all that big, but the brilliance of its light was a sign that it had a high system priority. Zora supposed he must have taken the ice resources in the air from Alice and Chudelkin's fierce battle and converted them for use without anyone noticing.

Five seconds left.

Eugeo moved his hands as though pulling on a greatbow, and the arrow in his grasp flashed blue.

Eugeo: Discharge!!

With that, the arrow of ice flew, but not straight at Chudelkin. Eugeo's left hand guided it in the air, first around the right of the flame clown, then curving left and upward. With all the red from the flames filling the chamber, the blue trail the ice arrow left behind stood out by contrast. The clown's burning eyes followed its course.

Four seconds left.

When the ice arrow had nearly reached the domed ceiling, Eugeo clenched his controlling hand. On command, the arrow plunged at twice the previous speed. Its vicious head bore down—and not on Prime Senator Chudelkin. But on Administrator, who lay prone in the air behind him.

Three seconds left.

The silver-haired woman showed no signs of alarm at Eugeo's brilliant ice attack. She merely glanced upward in annoyance, puckered her lips, and blew out a little puff of air.

That was all she did. But the arrow of ice promptly melted, several feet away from her. The true attack Eugeo was making was not on Administrator herself, however, but on Chudelkin's abnormal fixation and attention on her. The instant the arrow flew behind him, Chudelkin's eyes bulged, and he rotated around on his head.

Chudelkin: Your Eminence! Please watch out!

Two seconds left.

Zora was already on the move before Chudelkin's scream hit his ears. Zora held the sword at shoulder height, right arm pulled back as far as it could go. The preliminary motion kicked in and turned the blade red as blood.

The system started moving Zora's body automatically. His feet, wide apart, launched off the floor. The acceleration was funneled into his rotation, traveling through his back into Zora's right shoulder. The rotation went back into a straight motion, bursting through Zora's right arm into the sword that was now just an extension of it.

With the metallic roar of a jet engine, the sword burst forth in a straight line with a shining crimson light that was deeper than any of the flames. This was the One-Handed Sword skill Vorpal Strike.

The reason Zora had used this skill so much in SAO was because it had the tremendous power to change the course of any battle, and a range that seemed almost unfair for a One-Handed Sword attack. The crimson effect carved through a space about twice the length of the blade itself. When combined with the full reach of his arm, it could sometimes outdistance even a long spear.

But the distance to Zora's target, Prime Senator Chudelkin, was a good fifty feet. A normal Vorpal Strike would never reach him.

In other words, Zora had to use his imagination—his Incarnation power—to extend his first use of this attack in the Underworld to over five times its range. This would not be easy.

But Zora didn't think it impossible. He would never think it.

Alice was exposing herself and her blade to hellfire, trusting in him to find the solution. Zora's best friend, Eugeo, had used all his smarts and concentration to unleash a sacred art that would allow him this opportunity.

If Zora couldn't step up and do his part for them, Zora had no right to call myself a swordsman. And he was nothing if not Zora the Night Sky Swordsman.

Zora: Rrraaaahhh!!

Zora bellowed, summoning all his force. At that moment, a fingerless black glove covered his right hand, as though it had seeped out of the very air around him.

On its heels, smooth dark blue and white leather appeared over his battle-torn sleeves, stretching up his arms to his shoulders, then his torso. Instantly, it turned into a long coat, the studded hem whipping wildly.

The light effects around Zora's sword flashed brighter, almost like an explosion. From one concentrated point at the tip of the sword, they practically drowned out the red light coming from the flaming clown.

Zora: Aaaah!!

Zora unleashed all the power at his disposal.

One second left.

Eugeo(mind): What was that sound?!

Eugeo gaped at the abnormal roar coming from just nearby.

All ultimate techniques created a multitude of lights and sounds. But this was different from anything he'd heard to this point. It was thicker, heavier, harder, sharper—just like the sword was roaring on its own.

The sound was coming from the black sword in Zora's right hand. It sparkled like black crystal, the blade's sharp edge rattling and emitting an ear-splitting roar. And it wasn't just sound—the entire sword was wreathed in deep-red light.

Eugeo(mind): It's a special technique. But I've never seen this kind before.

Eugeo held his breath. But the truly shocking part of this was what happened right after that.

This time, his partner's entire body flashed brightly and transformed into an appearance that he'd never worn before. Zora had been dressed in a black and white shirt and pants, tattered somewhat from all the fighting they'd done. But after the wave of light passed over his arm, body, and legs, a long, dark blue leather cloak with a high collar and a pair of slim-fitting leather trousers appeared out of nowhere.

That happened in less than a blink, but the strange phenomenon did not end there. There were more changes to Zora's body, though they weren't as dramatic as the changes to his clothes.

First, his black hair was longer now, covering half of his profile. Also, what was visible of his eyes through the wild blowing of his bangs was fiercer than anything Eugeo had seen before. They were wild, the look harder —harder than when they'd fought the goblins in the northern cave, harder than when he'd cut off Raios Antinous's arms, harder even than when he'd fought against Deusolbert and Fanatio. It was like Zora's very spirit had fused with the sword, becoming sharper and more dangerous.

Zora: Rraaaaahh!!

Zora's sword also blazed with metallic sheen, the red light rapidly increased in intensity, and then his friend's hand shot forward with blinding speed. The long hem of his coat flapped behind him like monstrous wings.

It was clear that this was an ultimate technique of the Aincrad style.

But what a tremendous thrust it was. It was unlike any of the moves he'd learned from Zora; its ferocity seemed more High Norkia in style but with all the ornamentation and beauty removed. It was an attack meant for nothing but piercing a target...

Eugeo: This is...

Eugeo sucked in a breath and followed the crimson shine with his eyes. Zora was aiming, of course, for Prime Senator Chudelkin, who was controlling the fiery behemoth. But the target was at least fifteen mels away. No special technique would reach that far as long as it was from a sword.

The moment Zora unleashed the thrust, Chudelkin wasn't watching him. He was gazing toward the rear of the room, where Eugeo had shot his ice arrow just seconds earlier.

Eugeo had used all his knowledge and creativity to attempt that trick, but of course it didn't work on Administrator, who simply shattered it with a breath. But as Eugeo expected, Chudelkin couldn't possibly ignore an attack on his master and had to turn to shriek a warning. As Zora had requested, he'd managed to distract their target.

Relieved that the ice arrow had vanished without a threat, Chudelkin turned back, still on his head. Instantly, his narrow eyes fully opened, revealing a quick succession of emotions.

First was shock upon registering the sound and light of Zora's oncoming sword. Second was relief upon recognition that it was a thrust that surely wouldn't reach him. Lastly, he felt terror at the realization that the red light causing all that metallic roaring was still coming closer.

Like him, Eugeo was too surprised to breathe. The bloodred light passed by Alice, who was still blocking the atronach, and jumped through all fifteen mels in an instant—until it easily shot right through the upside-down Chudelkin's stick-thin torso.

The blade of light extended nearly another two mels, then dissolved into little points of deep-red light that hung in the air like motes. And then a gushing jet of actual blood shot through the air. It was coming from a massive hole in the center of Chudelkin's chest, nearly large enough to bisect his body.

Chudelkin: Oh-hooooooo...

He exhaled weakly, like air escaping a balloon. His body slowly tilted until he toppled with a splat into a puddle of his own blood. It continued gushing out, a seemingly impossible amount for such a small form. Chudelkin lifted a trembling arm, reaching for the floating Administrator.

Chudelkin: M-My... My... Eminence...

Eugeo couldn't see the little man's expression from where he stood. But Prime Senator Chudelkin's hand fell to the soggy carpet with a squelch, and he moved no more.

At the same moment, the clown of flames that had been just about to crunch through Alice's golden tornado vanished, its puffed-up torso evaporating into smoke, briefly leaving that evil grin before it too disappeared. As though baffled by the loss of their enemy, Alice's little golden blades slowed until they hung in the air.

Eugeo felt his ears ringing in the sudden and complete silence that fell over the room. He glanced to his right. Zora was paused in a low crouch, his right arm extended as far as it could go.

The light that covered the black sword's surface vanished, and the tail of his coat flapped once more before it hung still. Right before Eugeo's unbelieving eyes, Zora's appearance went hazy and changed back to the way it had been before.

Eugeo: Zora.

Zora still didn't move after he was back in his simple dark blue shirt and pants. Eventually, he let his right arm drop until the tip of the black sword landed on the carpet, and he hung his head.

Eugeo didn't know what to say to him.

Zora had tried to save even Vice Commander Fanatio. Even against someone like Prime Senator Chudelkin, he would never celebrate the taking of another's life. With his bangs back to being short, it was easy to see that the icy harshness he'd shown in the moment of his attack was gone.

Only the sharp ringing of Alice's cloud of golden petals clicking back into their rightful place broke the silence, several seconds later. Sensing a hint of nervousness in her demeanor, Eugeo looked over her shoulder toward the other end of the room.

Administrator, floating in the air, was reaching out her delicate hand toward the collapsed prime senator.

It was obvious from a glance that Chudelkin was dead. She couldn't possibly be administering healing arts. Or did she actually have the ability to bring corpses back to life...?

Eugeo sucked in a sharp breath, right as the pontifex's utterly impassive voice said.

Quinella: I'm only cleaning him up, because it's such an unsightly mess. He's an eyesore.

She waved her hand lazily, and Chudelkin's body flew into the air as easily as if it were made of paper, slammed into the window on the distant eastern side of the room, and fell into a little heap there.

Alice: How could you...?

Alice murmured under her breath.

She was still the cold, dispassionate Integrity Knight whose personality had been tinkered with, but even Eugeo understood why she felt the need to speak up. Chudelkin was hardly respectable, but at the very least, he had given his life fighting for the sake of his master. The least he deserved was a worthy burial for his remains.

But Administrator didn't spare a second glance for his corpse. If anything, the way she was smiling mysteriously made it seem like she'd completely wiped all knowledge of the prime senator from her mind already.

Quinella: Well, that was a boring show. But at least I was able to gather some useful data.

Her voice was innocent and beautiful, and she even threw in a few sacred words that Eugeo did not recognize. Without breaking the sideways pose atop her invisible couch, she slid five mels through the air, into the center of the round chamber. Administrator pulled back a lock of silver hair that had fallen over her face in the wind, then narrowed her reflective rainbow eyes and placed that magnetic stare right next to Eugeo—onto Zora, who was still crouched.

Quinella: Irregular boy. At first I thought I couldn't view your properties because you're an unregistered unit from an unofficial marriage, but that's not why, is it? You came from over there, didn't you? A human from the other side...isn't that right?

Eugeo hardly understood the implication of anything that she whispered.

Eugeo(mind): Over there? The other side...?

Zora, his black-haired partner, had appeared without any of his memory in the forest south of Rulid two and a half years ago, a so-called Lost Child of Vecta.

The town elders had told Eugeo that such people sometimes appeared. But it was only when he was a little child that he'd actually believed Vecta, the god of darkness, was reaching over the End Mountains to play tricks on the memories of people, the way the stories said.

When people experienced things that were tremendously sad and painful, they could actually lose their memories and sometimes even their lives. Eugeo had learned that from Old Man Garitta, the previous carver of the Gigas Cedar. Years ago, Garitta's wife had drowned, and his grief had been so great and so deep that he'd lost over half of the memories of his life with her. He had chuckled sadly and told Eugeo that this was both the mercy and the punishment of Stacia, goddess of creation, at work.

So Eugeo had always secretly assumed that this must be what had happened to Zora, too. He would've been from the eastern or southern empire, based on the color of his hair and eyes. Something horrible and sad had happened to him back home, and he'd wandered for a long time without memory, until he'd eventually come to the forest near Rulid.

This was partially why Eugeo hardly ever brought up the topic of Zora's past while they were on their long journey to Centoria and through the academy. Of course, there was also the fact that he was scared Zora might remember and then go back to his real home, never to return.

However, Administrator, who had the power to see all things that happened in the human world, had used a strange term to describe Zora's origin.

Eugeo(mind): The other side. Did she mean the other side of the End Mountains, in the Dark Territory?

Was the one clue to Zora's birth, his consecutive-attacking Aincrad style of swordfighting, actually a school developed in the land of darkness?

No. She would certainly have more knowledge of the Dark Territory than that. The Integrity Knights under her control ranged freely over the mountains to do battle with the dark knights there. It was impossible to imagine that Administrator, the supreme ruler, would not know what the Dark Territory was like, how its towns looked, and what kinds of lives the residents lived there. She wouldn't need to use a vague placeholder term like the other side.

Eugeo(mind): Which would mean...

Administrator was referring to something even she couldn't see, some place outside of the very world...? Something beyond even the Dark Territory...or perhaps even farther, even more removed. Like some kind of other world entirely...?

This concept was so abstract for Eugeo that he couldn't even find the words to describe the thoughts in his head. But his hunch told him that he was on the verge of something unbelievably massive, some kind of great secret of the entire world. Unable to resist a sudden burning impatience, he looked around, out the huge windows, into the night sky.

Between the black shapes of the clouds was a sea of stardust.

Was Zora's home...somewhere on the other side of the sky? What kind of place was it? And did Zora in fact have those memories back now...? Several seconds of silence were eventually broken by his black-haired partner. Zora got to his feet and answered Administrator's question with a simple and monumental

Zora: Yes. That's right.

Eugeo stared at his partner, feeling himself go numb with shock. Zora had gotten his memory back already. In fact...had he always had his memory, right from the start...?

For an instant, Zora looked back at Eugeo. There was a multitude of emotions in his black pupils, but it seemed to Eugeo that foremost among them was pleading, a desperate wish for Eugeo to trust him. Then he looked back at Administrator. Despite the fierce determination on his features, there was also a note of self-deprecation.

Zora: But...my designated authority level is the same as any other person in this world, and far from your own, Administrator...or should I say, Quinella?

The instant he said that mysterious-sounding name, the grin vanished from the pontifex's beautiful features. It was only for an instant, however, and soon a much larger smile was playing on her luscious lips.

Quinella: So the little brat filled your head with all her silly stories! Well, then? Tell me, boy, what was your reason for stumbling into my world?  And without any kind of administrative privileges.

Zora: I may not have privileges, but I do know some things.

Quinella: Oh? Such as? Be warned, I have no patience for old, foolish tales.

Zora: Then how about the future?

Zora offered, sticking the point of his sword into the floor and resting both hands on the pommel. There was harsh tension in his cheeks again, along with a fiery look in his black eyes.

Zora: In the fairly near future, Quinella, you are going to destroy your own world.

All this shocking pronouncement achieved was to deepen the smile on Administrator's face.

Quinella: I will? I'm going to destroy it? It's not the boy who tormented so many of my sweet little puppets who will destroy the world, but me?

Zora: You heard me. And your mistake was that you created the Integrity Knights to fight off an all-out invasion from the Dark Territory. Their existence is the mistake.

Quinella: Hah. Ha-ha-ha-ha.

It was almost certainly the first time, at least since she became the supreme ruler, that Administrator had ever been corrected by someone else. She put her finger to her lips, and her shoulders shook, as if she was holding in a gale of laughter.

Quinella: That definitely sounds like something that little brat would say. So pitiful...Both her, for being so desperate to expel me, and you for taking the bait!

She chuckled deep in her throat. Zora opened his mouth to say something, but a different voice spoke up first, loud and determined.

Alice: If I may, Lady Pontifex.

It was Alice the Integrity Knight, who had been silent all this time, now striding forward in her metal armor. Her long blond hair shone brilliantly.

Alice: Those who were concerned with the current order of Integrity Knights having no hope of fending off the coming invasion of the force of darkness were Knight Commander Bercouli and Vice Commander Fanatio. I share the same concerns, too. Lady Pontifex, do you have means to protect the people if the order of knights fall? Surely you cannot be thinking that you alone could destroy all of the enemy's hordes!

Her fierce, beautiful voice swept through the chamber like a cool breeze, ruffling her adversary's hair. The pontifex's smile waned. She stared at her knight in gold, seemingly surprised.

Alice's words came as a shock to Eugeo, too, for a different reason. Alice Synthesis Thirty the Integrity Knight. The temporary, artificial persona that now inhabited the body of his childhood friend Alice Zuberg.

She was a cold and impartial administer of the law's justice—or should have been, the way that she had smacked Eugeo when she'd arrested them at the academy days ago. Within Alice the Integrity Knight, there shouldn't have been a single smidgen of all the emotions that made Alice who she was —her kindness, her innocence, her love.

But the way she had just spoken was different. It was as if the old Alice had grown into being an Integrity Knight herself. She didn't notice the way Eugeo was gaping at her. The Integrity Knight thrust the end of the Osmanthus Blade into the floor with a mighty clang! and continued.

Alice: That is not all I want to ask you. You've forcefully taken us from our parents, wives and husbands, our brothers and sisters, and sealed away our memories to plant false memories of being summoned from a non existent heavenly realm! Why couldn't you at least trust in our loyalty and respect for you?! Why would you subject our souls to such a tainted ritual to force us to submit to your control?!

Eugeo saw a number of tiny droplets slide down the profile of Alice's shapely face.

Eugeo(mind): Tears.

Tears, from Alice the Integrity Knight, who should have lost all emotion. As he watched, stunned, the knight arched her back to stare boldly up at her ruler, without bothering to wipe her cheeks clean. But those words, sharper than any sword, failed to register on Administrator any more than a slight breeze would. She smiled coldly and said.

Quinella: Well, well, Alice. These are quite heady thoughts you've been juggling. And it's only been five...six years? So little time...since I created you.

Her tone of voice was the lightness that came from the lack of any emotion or connection. It was also reminiscent of polished silver. There wasn't even the barest hint of warmth in it.

Quinella: I'm offended. I trusted you very much. The Piety Module I gifted you is the proof of my love. They freed you from any trifling worries or pain, so you could remain beautiful dolls for all of time.

And with that transcendent smile, Administrator lifted her left hand and spun the triangular prism between her fingertips. It was the improved version of the Piety Module she'd taken from Eugeo's forehead. Through its wavering purple light, she gazed down at Alice and whispered.

Quinella: Poor, poor Alice. Look at how your pretty face is twisted. Are you sad? Or are you angry? If you'd just stayed as my little puppet, you would never, ever have had to feel such pointless things.

Alice's tears dripped lightly off her cheeks to hit her golden metal armor, a sound that was joined by something hard creaking. It was the Osmanthus Blade pointed into the ground at her feet—and piercing the thick carpet to gouge right into the marble floor underneath. She clenched the sword so hard she was damaging the indestructible structure of Central Cathedral, her voice cracking and trembling.

Alice: You think that Uncle...His Excellency Knight Commander Bercouli, through out his 300 years tenure as an Integrity Knight, never had any worries or suffered at all? Is that what you think, Lady Pontifex? This man, who's shown you the deepest loyalty of us all, and you knew nothing of the pain he's been carrying in his heart. Is that what you're saying?!

There was an especially loud crack from the sword. Alice drowned it out by bellowing.

Alice: Sir Bercouli was constantly torn between his loyalty to the Axiom Church and his duty to protect the common people! Many times he pleaded to the senate to strengthen the Royal Knights of the four empires, who were knights in nothing but name, but I don't suppose you knew that! He...Uncle even knew about the seal placed within our right eyes. That alone should be proof enough that he suffered a vast torment unlike anyone else's!!

But even this ragged, tear-streaked missive was met by nothing but a cold smile on Administrator's pale features.

Quinella: Why, this saddens me, to realize that you thought so little of my love. Of course I knew these things.

She beamed, but there seemed to be a whiff of cruelty behind her expression.

Quinella: My poor Alice, let me explain something to you. This isn't the first time Bercouli brooded over such worthless issues. You see, he brought up the same things about a century ago. So I fixed him. And it wasn't just him...it's all of the knights who've been around for over a hundred years. I made them forget every one of their painful memories. Don't worry, Alice, I'm going to erase the memories causing you such grief. I'm going to turn you back into a doll that has no need to think.

The only thing left in the cold, heavy silence that followed was Administrator's quiet, mirthless chuckle. She wasn't human anymore. It was so obvious to Eugeo now. The fresh wave of chills rolling over his skin told him as much. She had the power to erase human memories or create them anew. Eugeo had undergone that terrifying process himself. Just a simple spoken command of three sacred words on his part was all it took for Administrator to lock his memories out of reach, make him into an Integrity Knight, and force him to attack Zora.

If Administrator had gone through the full, proper process of the Synthesis Ritual, Eugeo probably wouldn't have regained his wits this way. But some hole in Eugeo's memories that had always been there—though he had no idea why or how—had ultimately saved him from that fate.

That didn't mean his sin was absolved. Against Chudelkin, all he was able to do was momentarily distract the enemy with sacred arts. He couldn't assume that alone made all forgiven. In truth, he still didn't have the right to stand side by side with Zora...

He focused on the Blue Rose Sword clenched in his right hand, then felt Zora's gaze on his cheek. But he couldn't look back and meet it.

Alice: I admit that, right now, I'm feeling enough pain and sorrow to rip my heart to shreds... But this pain...I don't wish to erase these feelings I've never felt before. Because this pain is precisely what tells me I'm not a puppet knight, but a human being. Lady Pontifex, I don't want your love. I don't need you to fix me.

Quinella: A puppet that refuses to be a puppet. But that does not make you human, Alice. Just a broken puppet. Sadly, it doesn't matter how you feel about. Once I synthesize you again, every one of your emotions will be erased.

Quinella said, the gentlest of smiles for the cruelest of words.

Zora: Just like you did for yourself, Quinella.

Zora said, breaking his silence at last. Once again, he used that strange name. And once again, the smile vanished from the girl's face.

Quinella: Hey, boy, didn't I tell you not to bring up the past?

Zora: If I do, will that erase the truth? Even you can't alter the past as you please. You were born like any other person. You're a human being. And that fact can't ever be deleted...can it?

Suddenly, it clicked into place for Eugeo. When they were in the Great Library, Zora must have heard about Administrator's true name and birth from Cardinal.

Quinella: Human...yes. Hu-man.

Administrator murmured sarcastically, the little grin back again.

Quinella: I'll admit that hearing that word from a boy from the other side prompts some conflicting feelings. Are you saying you are more special than I am? That an Underworldian like me should shut up and mind my own business, perhaps?

Zora: Not at all. In fact, in many ways, I think the people from this world are superior to those on the other side. But at the root of it all, we're still the same human beings with the same souls. And you're no exception to the rule. Does living for a few hundred years mean a human being becomes a god? It doesn't, does it?

Quinella: And what is your point? That as human beings, we should all sit down and enjoy tea time together?

Zora: Well, I certainly wouldn't object to that...but my point is that because you're a human being, you cannot be perfect. People make mistakes. And the mistakes you've made are reaching the point where they cannot be contained. Now that the Integrity Knights are half ruined, if a full-scale invasion from the Dark Territory comes, the human realm will fall.

Zora paused and glanced at Eugeo before continuing,

Zora: Eugeo and I were in the cave that goes through the End Mountains in the far north two years ago, and we fought a band of goblins that came from the far entrance. I'm sure whatever Integrity Knight was guarding the area must have missed them. That's going to happen far more regularly now. Eventually, the incursions will become an invasion, and the world you've taken such pains to maintain —or stagnate, as the case may be—will be exposed to an unstoppable wave of destruction and violence. I can't imagine that this is what you really want to happen.

Quinella: But it was you who annihilated my knights. Quite awful.

Zora: You might think that as long as you survive, you can always start over afterward.

Zora said, his tone getting harder and darker, as he slid his foot half a step forward.

Zora: Maybe you could create more laws to control the overflowing hordes of darkness and those lucky few human survivors— perhaps a new control structure, some Church of Darkness, or something along those lines. But unfortunately for you, that won't happen. Because on the other side, there are people who have true, absolute authority over this world. They're going to think this was a failure, and they can and will start over. With the push of a button, everything in this world will vanish. The mountains, the rivers, the towns...and all human beings, including you, will disappear in an instant.

By now, Zora's words were beyond Eugeo's understanding. The same could be said of Alice. She turned, eyes red and puffy, looking at the black- haired swordsman with curiosity. Only Administrator herself seemed to perfectly grasp the implications of whatever Zora was saying. Her teasing smile was all but gone, replaced by narrowed silver eyes that seemed to freeze whatever they looked at.

Quinella: No, that would not be pleasant. I do not like hearing that some stranger can treat this world like their own garden to do with as they please.

She steepled her slender fingers, covering the lower half of her face. The toying, teasing note in her voice when she'd been speaking to Alice was all but gone.

Quinella: But then...what of you? What of you people from the other side? Are you constantly aware that your world was created by a higher power, and strive to do only what would please those higher authorities, so they won't reset your world?

Zora did not appear to be expecting this question; he bit his lip and did not respond. Administrator sat up on the invisible floating sofa and spread her arms. Her long legs straightened out to a standing position. Her naked form was more beautiful than any depiction of a goddess, shining in the moonlight and casting an overwhelming holy presence throughout the room.

Quinella: Of course you don't. After all, they would create a world, and life ,for fun, and then erase it all when they have no more use for them. What gives a boy from a world like that the right to criticize my choices?

Quinella looked up at the ceiling—no, through the marble roof and into the night sky far beyond it—and declared.

Quinella: Well, I refuse. I won't pander to those who fancy themselves Gods of Creation , or reduce myself to groveling so they'll allow me to continue to exist. The only proof of my existence is the control I exert. That desire is the one thing that motivates me and gives me life! These legs of mine are meant only to trample over others. They are not for bending at the knees!

The air rushed and swirled around her, buffeting her silver hair. Eugeo faltered a step, overwhelmed by the force of her presence. Administrator was the enemy who overwrote Alice's memories and allowed the nobles to languish in corruption—but she was also the supreme ruler of the world, a being who was half human, half god, and would never spare a glance for a common peasant like him, a fact he was now reminded of.

Even the partner who had guided Eugeo all this way swayed with the weight of the moment, but then he recovered and took a step forward instead. He thrust his sword into the ground before him, just to emphasize his own presence.

Zora: In that case, are you going to let this land be overrun so that you can be the ruler of a nation without subjects, sitting on a throne in name alone, waiting for your lonely end?!

All the youthful beauty of Administrator's carefully sculpted face melted away, and the full, true age of the woman underneath came to the fore in the form of pure rage. This too faded in short order, until her pearly lips wore that mocking smile again.

Quinella: I'm offended that you think I haven't given a single thought to this all- out invasion, as you call it. I've had plenty of time to think...for time alone is my ally, and not the people on the other side.

Zora: So you have some means of avoiding the end?

Quinella: I have the means and also the objective. Ruling is my reason for existence...and there is no limit to its bounds.

Zora: What...? What does that mean?

Zora asked, taken aback. She didn't answer him immediately. Instead, she let a note of mystery linger in her smile, then clapped her hands together as if to say that the conversation was over.

Quinella: I can tell you the rest of it once you've become my puppet. And Alice and Eugeo, too, of course. But if you want a teaser, let me just add that I have no intention of accepting that the Underworld will be reset...or allowing the 'final load test' to happen. I've already gotten a sacred art prepared for that. Rejoice, for you three will bear witness to it before anyone else.

Zora: Sacred art...? So you're going to rely on system commands and all their inherent limitations? You think that the commands you can execute will completely wipe out the hordes of darkness? When you can't even handle the three of us right here.

Quinella: Is that so?

Zora: It's true. Clearly, you have lost. Your long-range attacks will take seconds, and Alice can stop them. Meanwhile, Eugeo and I will cut you down. If you try to paralyze me with a contact-based command, I'll do what I just did to Chudelkin again. I hate to rely on theory at a time like this, but a single spellcaster without a front line to hide behind cannot beat a group of swordsmen. That's an ironclad rule that has to apply to this world, too.

Quinella: Single...single, you say. That's a very good point. Yes, in the end, numbers are the problem. Having too many pawns means you cannot control them all. Too few, and they cannot withstand the stress test. I grew the Integrity Knights over time to meet that balance...but...

Without her trusted retainer Chudelkin, the supreme ruler was all alone. But she exhibited boundless confidence in the face of the three rebels.

Quinella: To be honest, the knights were just a stopgap. The military might o truly seek has no need for the ability to think, much less memories or emotions. They just need to relentlessly massacre the enemies before them. In other words, it doesn't need to be human.

Zora:...What are you...saying...?

Zora mumbled, but Administrator ignored him. She lifted her left hand high, holding the triangular prism that glowed an eerie purple color: Eugeo's Piety Module.

Quinella: He was an idiotic clown, but Chudelkin did prove himself useful. He gave me enough time to construct this drearily long command string. Now... awaken, my faithful servant! My soulless slaughterer!!

That was when it hit Eugeo. The sacred chanting he'd heard when he'd first returned to this room, coming from the inside of the bed. An extremely long art, one of the greatest challenges even for the pontifex, as it could not be abbreviated with willpower alone. And now she was about to execute it. What she sang next was just two simple words, too brief to stop, but more horrifying than anything else she could have said.

Quinella: Release Recollection!!

The ultimate form of Perfect Weapon Control. The true secret art that unlocked the weapon's unconscious memories and brought forth a power greater than any sacred arts... But Administrator was completely naked, without so much as a knife on her person. It wasn't the Piety Module she was holding, was it? But that prism couldn't possibly have memories that could be released...

As he stared at the distant figure, Eugeo eventually became aware of a faint sound growing firmer. It was the metallic clinking of some object from behind... but now from the right and the left as well. He spun around and moaned in shock at what he saw. The forty-mel-wide chamber was supported by a number of pillars. And the gleaming golden swords in a variety of sizes that adorned those pillars were now trembling.

Eugeo: Is...is this...?!

He gasped. Alice murmured.

Alice: It can't be...!

The biggest swords were three mels long. Even Administrator couldn't possibly swing such a thing around. And from what Eugeo knew, the rumbling wasn't just coming from the one he was looking at. The same phenomenon was happening to all the pillars that lined the room. There were at least thirty of the swords in total.

But Memory Release was a skill that worked only on weapons that had been used so often, they might as well be a part of the wielder's body. It was through the deep relationship between master and blade that one could come into contact with the sword's memory at all.

The pontifex treated her own subjects like tools. There was no way she had such deep bonds with thirty different decorative swords. So what in the world was the "memory of the sword" she had just unlocked...?

As the three of them stood dumbfounded, there was an especially fierce rumble, and the enormous swords pulled away from the supports to float in the air. Eugeo had to duck as one swooped over his head, rotating madly. They gathered in the center of the room, right over Administrator. Then something even more shocking happened.

Thirty swords of various sizes rang loudly as they contacted one another, banging and sliding into place to form one gigantic mass. Eugeo noticed at once that it seemed to be vaguely humanoid in shape.

A thick backbone ran through the center, and long arms stretched to either side. There were legs below, but four of them instead of two. When the swords finished transforming into the bizarre giant—no, monster—Administrator held out the Piety Module toward it.

Eugeo(mind): That prism is the centerpiece of her Memory Release.

Eugeo instantly sensed. At the exact same moment, Zora yelled.

Zora: Discharge!!

Suddenly, there was a bird of flame in his outstretched right palm. While Eugeo—and likely Alice—had been watching the swords connect in shock, Zora had busied himself with chanting an art.

The firebird shot forth toward the prism in Administrator's hand. There were many kinds of heat-based attack arts; the Bird Shape art that Zora used automatically tracked its target. And the pontifex was concentrating on the sword giant above her, so she didn't notice Zora. It was going to work! Eugeo was sure of it—

Until the next moment, when one of the sword giant's legs stretched out and blocked the bird's path. It was unable to dodge and smacked into the metal, bursting into deep-red droplets. The shining golden sword got a bit of soot on its surface but was otherwise unaffected.

Administrator completely ignored that whole sequence. She released the triangular prism in her left hand—not so much tossing it as letting the prism rise on its own until it fit inside the space between the three swords that formed the creature's backbone.

The purple light continued to rise until it came to a stop at about the spot a heart would be in a living being and flashed much brighter. That light then spread throughout the giant, and the swords that had seemed more decorative than practical suddenly rang loudly as their edges spontaneously sharpened. Eugeo's instinct told him that this was the completion of the pontifex's art. Administrator narrowed her eyes and smiled.

Then the sword giant spread its four legs and leaped through the air in between the humans and the pontifex, landing on the floor with a thunderous rumble. Eugeo gaped up at its towering five-mel height. Backbone, ribs, two arms, and four legs—all made up of golden swords. It was like a toy that a child would make out of carved branches...or some creature of living bone from the depths of the Dark Territory.

Alice: Impossible....Multiple weapons at the same time...? Not only that, but using Perfect Weapon Control art of this magnitude on thirty weapons....it violates the fundamental rules of the arts...! It shouldn't be possible, even for the pontifex. She still has to follow the laws of sacred arts...So how is she...?

Administrator would have heard her, of course, but the woman floating behind the sword giant ignored her.

Quinella: This is the power I've sought. Pure offensive that will continue to fight forever. It's name is...let's see...Why don't I call it Sword Golem?

Eugeo tried to use what he knew about the sacred tongue to decipher the two strange words she had just said. He knew that the sacred word Sword came from weapon-enhancing arts. But he'd never even seen the word Golem in his textbook at the academy. Alice didn't seem to know, either, and she would have a much stronger grasp of the terms. The silence was broken by Zora's hoarse mutter.

Zora: A moving puppet...made of swords.

His description of it in the common tongue must have been correct; Administrator's smile widened, and she clapped her hands together.

Quinella: I should have realized that you would know your sacred language... excuse me, your 'Ing-lesh.' If you don't want to be a knight, I can still make you a secretary—but only if you drop your sword, apologize for your transgressions, and promise your eternal loyalty to me.

Zora: Sadly, I have a hard time believing that you would trust my promise. Plus, I haven't given up on this one yet.

Quinella: I do not dislike this boldness of yours, but stupidity I cannot abide. Each of its swords has the Priority Level of a Divine Object. Do you think you can defeat this Sword Golem, the ultimate weapon I've created by stretching my precious memory capacity to the limit?

Something about the term ultimate weapon stuck in Eugeo's mind. Yes, it reminded him of what Vice Commander Fanatio had said—that the pontifex used a thousand mirrors to gather Solus's light into a single point that could produce superheated flames without sacred arts. Fanatio had called it a "weapons experiment."

So a weapon of war would refer to some tool with more potential power than any sacred art. Was this Sword Golem standing before them now the realized form of just such a weapon...? Whatever Administrator might have registered from the looks on their faces, she now waved her right hand with a cold, cruel smile on her lips.

Quinella: Now then, fight, Golem. Annihilate your enemies!

And as though the giant had been waiting for just that command, its heart pulsed with purple light. The four-legged monster issued a metallic roar and began to charge. Its size was not nearly as large as the clown of flames that Chudelkin had created earlier. But the freakish way its many joints scraped and creaked as it approached froze Eugeo's heart with terror.

The golem swung its arms up high, each one made of three swords together. The quickest to react was Alice, who'd seemed paralyzed before this. Half a second after it moved, she was plunging forward, bravely meeting the monster's swing.

Alice: Yaaaaaah!!

Her scream was even sharper than the golem's screeching. Her back arched as far as it could go as she wound up, clutching the Osmanthus Blade in both hands.

At that point, Zora was moving, too. He leaped forward to his right, trying to circle around the golem. Eugeo was stock-still as of yet, too afraid to move, but he could at least attempt to discern what Zora and Alice were doing.

They both suspected that if the golem had a weak point, it was where the backbone met its four legs—what would be the pelvis on a human. But it was too dangerous to attack the area head-on. So Alice was acting as a decoy to draw the golem's attention—if it was conscious enough to have such a thing —while Zora tried to sever the weak point from the side. It was essentially the same strategy they'd used against Chudelkin.

Eugeo couldn't help but be impressed at how the two launched into this combined stratagem without any planning ahead of time. But there was a twinge of pain there, too.

Alice's sword traced an arc through the air as bright as Solus. The monster's right arm swung down ferociously. When the two golden blades connected, the resulting shock wave seemed to shake the entire cathedral, its wind buffeting Eugeo.

Just two seconds had passed since both sides charged. And whatever you might call a "battle" ended at this exact moment.

Alice's Osmanthus Blade, a Divine Object with the property of "everlasting eternity," was easily overpowered by the golem's arm. The knight was unable to stop the backward momentum of her sword and lost her center of gravity.

As she struggled to regain her balance, the golem's left sword plunged in at blinding speed. Compared to the first rush, the little thunk that followed was barely noticeable. But it was the sound that heralded the end of the fight.

The ghastly huge tip of the sword appeared from Alice's back, spraying dark-red droplets. Her long, beautiful hair floated upward with the impact, taking the brunt of the spatter.

Her golden breastplate, which had been split clean in two, instantly shattered with the loss of its life value. The Osmanthus Blade fell from her hand and clattered on the ground.

Lastly, the golem promptly yanked its left arm back, leaving the Integrity Knight to fall to the floor.

Zora: Aaaaaaahh!!

It was practically a scream. That was Zora, the black-haired swordsman just around the giant's right side, eyes livid with rage as he charged. His black sword glowed a brilliant blue. That was the attack known as Vertical.

The golem would stop if they could shatter the Piety Module encased in its backbone, but it was heavily defended and too high for any ultimate techniques to reach. So Zora was aiming at the point where the golem's spine met its legs instead. If just that point could be destroyed, it would prevent the giant from moving.

Just after its attack, with both arms lowered, the golem shouldn't have had a way to defend itself. But the moment Zora's sword started to move, the giant's top half rotated around the spine with tremendous speed. It swung in a way that no human being could ever do, its left arm in a side swipe toward Zora.

There was a blunt impact. With superhuman reflexes, Zora changed the course of his technique and fought back the golem's strike. But before Eugeo's horrified eyes, the exact same thing happened again.

Zora rose off his feet, unable to bear the full brunt of the impact. The golem's back left leg promptly shot forward toward his unprotected side. There was another heavy thud, and Zora shot sideways until he crashed against an east-facing window. A frightening amount of blood splattered against the glass, and the swordsman in black crumpled to the floor.

Eugeo watched in silent shock as a pool of blood formed beneath his facedown partner; he could feel nothing in his own arms and legs. It was like his body didn't belong to him anymore. He was helpless to stop it from shivering.

Only his face was able to respond to commands. He turned it to look up at the Sword Golem standing just five or six mels away. The monster looked straight back at him. The hilt of the sword located at the top of the backbone almost looked like a face. Two gemstones inlaid on the guard twinkled like blinking eyes.

He couldn't move or speak. All that Eugeo's numb mind was capable of doing was repeating the same thought.

Eugeo(mind): It can't be. It can't be. This can't be happening.

Alice and Zora were essentially the greatest warriors in the entire world. They would never lose a fight together, even against a freakish creature—a weapon of war—like this one. They were going to get back up and draw their swords again, very soon...

Quinella: Hee-hee. Hee-hee-hee.

Over the constant heavy grinding of the golem came a quiet chuckle. Eugeo saw then that Administrator, levitating in the background, was surveying the battle with great pleasure. The only color in her mirror eyes was the red of the blood that Zora and Alice shed. There was not the tiniest bit of pity in them.

The giant creature began to move again, preparing to carry out its master's orders to completion. The front right leg raised and fell, taking a huge step. The front left leg followed it.

Zora: Eu-Eugeo...

Red drops decorated the left arm of the approaching giant. Eugeo hoped it would just kill him and be done with it. Even his fear was gone. The entire world was utterly silent... Until suddenly, a tiny voice popped into his head. So small, he didn't even realize he was hearing something at first.

???: Use your dagger, Eugeo!

It was a woman's voice, a bit deep but beautiful. If this was an illusion just before his death, it certainly didn't sound like any voice from his past. He looked to his right and saw—resting on Zora's right shoulder, barely the size of a human fingernail, a black spider. But no bug that small could speak. Yet, there was something in the voice that made Eugeo believe it. Perhaps due to his exhausted wits, Eugeo fully trusted that the tiny creature, waving its front leg as if scolding him, was indeed the source of the voice in his head. That was it. Charlotte. The very agent of Cardinal that had been hiding on Zora himself for two whole years to gather information on him.

Eugeo: I...I can't. The dagger won't reach her.

The spider waved its raised leg even harder.

Charlotte: No! The corridor! Stab the levitating disc in the floor!!

Eugeo: Huh...?

His eyes went wide. The black spider stared back at him with its four little ruby eyes.

Charlotte: I'll buy you time! Just hurry!!

Cute little fangs spun as the spider yelled at him. Then it turned briefly toward Zora, who was looking pale, and brushed his cheek lightly with a single leg before jumping down to the floor. The tiny black dot landed on the carpet without a sound. Then it started running straight at the Sword Golem, a creature thousands upon thousands of times its size.

With each contact of pointed leg against carpet, her body mass seemed to grow. First she was the size of a mouse, then a cat, then a dog, and still growing. Soon Zora's ear, pressed against the carpet, could actually hear the vibration of each leg against the ground.

Sword Golem: Greeeh!

The Sword Golem roared—it had noticed Charlotte at last. The two gemstones on its "face" flickered, seemingly assessing this new enemy.

Charlotte: Shaaaa!

She hissed the spider, now over seven feet long, four eyes flashing menacingly. She wasn't half as tall as the golem, but while the enemy was constructed
entirely of long, narrow swords, the enlarged Charlotte's body was covered in thick, tough carapace. Wherever the light hit the black surface, it reflected in lustrous gold, and the claws on the ends of the eight legs were like obsidian.

The two front legs were especially large, their claws nearly as long as swords themselves. Charlotte raised the right one and smashed it against the golem's left leg.

A tremendous clanging filled the room, as though two greatswords had just collided. A shower of orange sparks lit up the darkened room. And in that light, Zora was stunned to see the figure of Eugeo running. Not at the golem. Not for either Zora or Alice.

He was racing for the circular pattern in the carpet along the south wall, to carry out Charlotte's order to stab his dagger into the levitating platform.

Behind Eugeo, the Sword Golem lost its balance the tiniest bit after Charlotte's attack, but it promptly held firm, then raised its right arm high in the air to strike. The golem had identified the newly appeared spider as an enemy. Pale eyes glinting, it swung down its massive arm.

Charlotte lifted her front left leg to block it. The clash of golden sword and obsidian claw again resulted in a powerful vibration that made my body rattle at the edge of the room. With the help of her six rear legs for resistance, the giant spider had succeeded at stopping one of the blows that had so easily knocked Zora and Alice off their feet.

The two giants held their limbs forth, each trying to push over the other. The hard carapace of Charlotte's legs warped under tremendous weight, and the joints of the three swords that made up the golem's right arm creaked.

The standoff lasted all of three seconds. With a wet crunch, Charlotte's front left leg snapped off. Milky white liquid shot forth from the break over her black surface. But the spider didn't stop. She swung her front right leg this time, right at the gap between the three greatswords that made up the Sword Golem's spine—toward the glowing purple Piety Module within.

Just when it seemed like the black lightning that was her claw would pierce the prism representing the golem's ultimate weak point, the many swords that formed the creature's ribs moved at once. Like a paper cutter, the four blades on the left and the four blades on the right met in the middle.

They easily sliced through Charlotte's leg, causing a fresh gush of her bodily fluid to spill forth. The golem's ribs slowly parted, allowing the severed half of the leg to fall. Its gemstone eyes twinkled steadily, almost seeming to mock Charlotte over its impending victory.

But losing another one of her legs did nothing to diminish the spider's bravery. She hissed again and leaped toward her foe, thick mandibles churning for a bite.

Her attack did not land. The golem kicked upward with blinding speed, slicing off two more of Charlotte's left legs. The giant spider lost her balance and toppled to the floor.

Zora: Forget about it—run!

Zora had never actually had a direct conversation with the spider named Charlotte. But she had always been with him, protecting him. When Raios and Humbert had torn up the zephilia flowers he'd been growing at the dorm, she'd even told Zora there was still a way to save them—when the only job Cardinal had asked her to do was simply keep tabs on him.

It wasn't right for her to die for this hopeless fight, just to buy them a little bit of time. Zora tried and yell for her to run, over and over, but his voice didn't reach her. Somehow, Charlotte managed to stand with her four remaining legs, and she tensed for another mad charge at the golem. But its left arm was quicker, swinging down from overhead to stab deep into the black spider's curved abdomen.

Zora: Uhk...

It was just the smallest gasp that finally escaped from his throat, far too weak to be the scream it was meant to be. And just then, Zora saw nothing but purple light. It was a shine Zora had seen just once before. The band of light that shot around the room was one conglomeration of tiny script. It was the same light that had erupted when he'd used Cardinal's dagger to save the life of Vice Commander Fanatio.

Eugeo must have reached the platform and stabbed it with his own dagger. Zora wasn't sure what kind of result that would have, but at least he knew that Eugeo hadn't let the time Charlotte had bought with her suicidal charge go to waste.

When the light began to dim, the black spider was scrabbling at the floor with her remaining legs, trying to stand despite being impaled. Then the golem removed its sword with a wet shlurk, and her massive bulk fell limply into the white puddle below her. Her four eyes had been as bright and brilliant as rubies before, but now they were losing their luster. They did catch sight of the levitating platform, and with blood dripping from her fangs, Charlotte whispered.

Charlotte: Thank goodness...He made it in time...

Her right legs trembled, rotating her body. Four eyes looked at me with tenderness.

Charlotte: I'm happy...that I got to fight with you...one...last...

Her words melted away into space. The round eyes flickered red and then went dark. Zora felt my vision blur. Despite the fact that he himself was dying, Zora's eyes brimmed with tears. The huge black spider began to shrink without a sound. The puddle of white liquid evaporated, too, leaving behind only a corpse about the size of my fingernail, rolled onto its back with four legs curled up above it.

The Sword Golem instantly lost all interest in the target once it had squashed the life from her, and it rotated until its gleaming eyes caught sight of Eugeo. The massive creature then turned its body ninety degrees, and its pointed legs thudded into the floor. It was heading for the waving ribbon of purple light.

With all the strength Zora had left, he raised his head a few inches and looked to the source of the light. On the southern end of the circular room, not that far from the window, there was a pulsating, glowing ring: the levitating platform that had brought Alice and him to the hundredth floor.

Something that looked like a tiny cross was stuck in the middle of the ring. That was the little bronze dagger, one of two that Cardinal had given him and Eugeo. She'd fashioned it from the magical resources in the braids that she'd been growing for two hundred years, and whatever the dagger pierced would open a channel through space directly to her.

It was meant to be the final weapon against Administrator, but on Charlotte's orders, Eugeo had stuck it into the platform on the floor. Now the entire thing was glowing purple. It rang and whined like a thousand tuning forks coming into harmony, until the very physical makeup of the dagger came undone, turning into a long pillar of light that ran between the circular platform and the ceiling.

Standing right next to it, Eugeo covered his face against the light with his arm. Even the Sword Golem came to a clanking stop, uncertain of how to respond to this unexpected phenomenon.

The pillar of light steadily expanded. At its center, a smooth dark-brown surface appeared—a board. But not any regular board. It was surrounded by a rectangular frame and had a silver knob on one side—it was a door.

As Zora had that moment of realization, the light flashed and disappeared. The high-pitched wavelength faded, and quiet returned to the chamber. Something about the design and coloring of the thick door was familiar to me. Eugeo and Zora watched without a sound while the Sword Golem took a step forward, its programming active again.

Just then, there was a small, hard click, accompanied by an almost imperceptible shift in the air. The silver doorknob began to rotate. There was another click, and the door quietly began to open.

It was just a door standing in empty air, so once open, it should have just been the same room on the other side. But there was no moonlight shining through the space inside the open frame. It was completely dark.

The door continued its slow progress until it came to a stop when it was about a foot and a half open. The other side was still out of sight. The Sword Golem continued its forward advance, ignoring the door. In just three steps, it would have Eugeo within swinging range of its massive arms...Two steps...

Then the darkness beyond the door was full of light. A pure-white lightning bolt shot horizontally out of the frame.

Sword Golem: Grrrakow!!

Zora's ears were buffeted by a tremendous shock—one greater than any sacred art he'd ever witnessed. The bolt hit the Sword Golem head-on and wriggled like a living thing, turning the massive creature into a black silhouette. It took several seconds for the thrashing lightning to finally die down. The Sword Golem, which seemed so hardy that it was unstoppable, slumped over and stopped moving. Its dozens of swords hissed and smoked, and the gemstone eyes blinked sporadically.

The monster stubbornly tried to move again, but another bolt from the doorway caught it. A sacred art of this power should require dozens of lines of sacred words, so this kind of rapid fire was astonishing. Scorched all over, the golem let out a high-pitched moan and tried to step back.

Just half a second later, the third and largest lightning bolt ripped past. This bolt, burlier and meaner than the prior two, tossed up the nearly twenty- foot battle creation as if it were made of paper. It spun through the air, passing to the right of the floating Administrator, and crashed to the floor on the other end of the room. The tremor of its fall seemed to shake the very foundation of Central Cathedral.

The upturned golem was immobile at last but not entirely dead. The tips of the swords that made up its limbs trembled and twitched. At the very least, it wouldn't be popping back up again anytime soon.

Zora looked back at the darkness through the doorway. He was already certain of the name of the person who would soon appear through it. Administrator was one of the two people in this world who could execute such rapid and transcendently powerful magic—and here was the other.

A thin staff and the small hand that held it were the first things to appear from the darkness. Next were a fragile wrist and a wide sleeve. A black velvet robe large enough to form several draping folds. A pointed hat with an ornament on it. A flat-soled shoe extended from the bottom of the robe to step silently onto the carpet.

The moonlight caught soft brown curls and small, silver-rimmed glasses. Large eyes that were young and yet filled with infinite wisdom glinted behind the lenses of the glasses. Cardinal the sage, who was another incarnation of Administrator with equal powers, and who had spent an eternity isolated within her massive, hidden library, took several smooth steps forward in the moonlight before coming to a stop. The door closed on its own behind her.

How had Cardinal left the library, which existed in a space that was everywhere and nowhere, and come into this room? The key was the dagger that Eugeo had carried around, of course. On Charlotte's orders, he'd stabbed it into the levitating platform, causing it to be connected to Cardinal. That would have made it child's play for her to change the connecting point of the platform to the library.

The wise little sage wore the expression of a strict teacher as she stared at the top floor of the cathedral for the first time. Then she turned to Eugeo, who was standing right next to her, and gave him a quick nod. Next was Alice, still lying on the floor a short distance away. When her eyes met Zora, she gave him a reassuring little smile and nodded once more.

Lastly, Cardinal arched her small back and stared up at Administrator, who was still silently floating on the far side of the room. Whatever emotion she was feeling about this showdown with her ultimate foe, their first meeting in two hundred years, Zora couldn't read from her profile.

Once she had taken stock of the situation, Cardinal raised the staff in her right hand. Her body rose off the ground, and she slid through the air to where Alice and Zora lay helpless on the ground.

She landed and brushed Alice's back with the head of the staff. Little glittering motes of light sprinkled down and sank into the knight's body. Next, she tapped Zora's shoulder with the narrow staff. Another warm shower of light appeared and engulfed his body, which was completely devoid of sensation by now.

The first thing that happened was that the cold, hollow sensation that filled him vanished, and the searing pain from the golem's attack to his abdomen rushed back to fill its place. Zora fought to keep from screaming, and the pain steadily melted into waves of warmth. As the agony subsided, Zora's bodily sensations returned. He opened and closed his stiffened fist until he felt able to touch the wound on his torso.

The injury tingled sharply when Zora touched it, but to his shock, the gash that had nearly bisected his entire body was completely gone. In order to re-create that effect with healing arts, Zora had have to sit in a sunny forest lush with resources, chanting for hours on end.

Alice: Zora. Who is she?

Alice asked clearly shock by the miracles this girl posses.

Zora: Cardinal. She fought Administrator 200 years ago and was banished. She's another pontifex.

It was such a miracle that Zora had to fight the momentary urge to celebrate that he'd been saved—but Zora knew that such a miracle required an equal compensation. And not from him but from Cardinal. After all, this situation had to be exactly what Administrator wanted...But Cardinal paid no heed to that horrifying possibility.

Zora: Don't worry, she's on our side. She's the one who rescued Eugeo and me and guided us here. She loves this world with all her heart, and also mourn for it.

Alice: Very well. Since she healed my wounds, I shall trust in the warmth of her power.

Cardinal the sage nodded her head towards the golden knight who was showing her gratitude. Then she floated into the air again. When she landed this time, she was before the tiny black body that lay atop the carpet. With a little thump, she set the end of the staff against the ground. She took her hand off it, but the staff remained perfectly vertical on its own.

Cardinal crouched down and gently scooped the tiny body up off the carpet. She clutched Charlotte the spider to her chest, lowering her head, and in a voice too quiet to be fully audible, whispered.

Cardinal: You're so stubborn...! Didn't I release you from your duty...? Thank you...for your hard work... and order you to live as you pleased in the corner of your favorite bookshelf...?

Behind the round glasses, her long eyelashes blinked twice, then three times. Zora's right arm was finally able to move properly, so he reached out to grab his sword and used it as a crutch to get to his feet. Zora made his way unsteadily over to Cardinal and, ignoring all the things he should've said first.

Zora: Cardinal...was that...Charlotte's true form...?

The sage looked up, chestnut-brown curls bouncing and eyes misty. In her oddly old way of speaking, which almost seemed as nostalgic as if Zora hadn't heard it in ages himself.

Cardinal: In this world...since ancient times, there have been many magical beasts and beings that made their homes in the forests and wilderness. I believe these creatures are familiar to you.

Zora: Named Monsters...But...Charlotte spoke human language and had emotions of her own...Did she have a fluctlight, too...?

Cardinal: No. To use a phase from your world, she was the same as an NPC. She was not stored in a lightcube but was a tiny part of the Main Visualizer function, given a small simulated thought engine—in other words, a part of the system. In the past, there were many large animals, ancient trees, boulders, and so on who had the ability to hold simple conversations in the common tongue. But...they are all gone now. Most were vanquished by the Integrity Knights, while others were harvested by Administrator for their object resources.

Zora: I see...like the guardian dragon whose bones sleep in the cave beneath the northern mountains...

Cardinal: Indeed. I took pity on them and, whenever possible, took newly generated AIs under my wing. The familiars I use as my agents are mostly miniature units without a thought engine, but some are the AIs that I put to my own uses, like Charlotte. Because they are so statistically powerful, there is little fear of them being damaged, even when shrunken down. That is how she was safe hiding in your clothes, even with all of your wild thrashing in combat.

Zora: B-but...but...

Zora stammered, staring at the tiny body in Cardinal's palm as he fought back tears.

Zora: Charlotte's speech and behavior wasn't that of a mimic AI. She saved me. She sacrificed herself for me. Why...? How could she...?

Cardinal: This child had already lived for 200 years. During that time, she spoke to me constantly and watched over numerous people. It's already been two years since she attached herself to you. One doesn't need a fluctlight to develop an attachment over that much time together... Even if her intelligence was nothing more then accumulated input and output data...it's possible for a true heart to reside there. Yes...Even love, in some cases.

Cardinal then looked over and glared at Quinella.

Cardinal: Not that you'll ever understand that as long as you live... Administrator, you hollow fool!