No one's POV

Alice: Zo...ra......

The swordsman, awake again after a half-year slumber, gave her a nod with a smile that was powerful but somehow shy, then turned away and raised his right hand in front of him. He pointed toward the dying dragons, who were flapping their wings with the last bit of strength remaining. The tips of their wings and the ends of their tails were already melting into light.

Amayori looked at Zora, with whom it had lived for half a year at the cottage outside of Rulid, and trilled softly. Zora nodded back to it and closed his eyes.

Without warning, iridescent film surrounded the two dragons. It was like a giant soap bubble had formed around them. But the dragons were not alarmed; they folded their wings, tucked in their heads, and rolled into balls.

The rainbow orb slowly descended directly over Alice. She was so stunned that she nearly forgot to breathe. And then something very strange happened. The enormous rainbow-tinted bodies of Amayori and Takiguri began to shrink. No, not shrink—they were getting youthful, growing in reverse.

Sharp talons rounded. Thick, hard scales reverted into soft, downy growths. Their tails and necks shrank, and smaller wings sprouted fine hair. By the time they came down to Alice's outstretched arms, the dragons were less than fifty cens in size. Takiguri was covered in a white pelt with a bluish tint, its eyes closed in peaceful sleep.

And Amayori was like a green ball of fluff, the same way as when she'd first met it at Central Cathedral. The little dragon looked right at Alice, opened its jaws to expose teeth like little pearls, and trilled.

Amayori: Kyuru!!

Alice: Ama...yori...

Alice gasped. Tears trickled down her cheeks and sparkled as they bounced off the dragon's soft, feathery hide. The rainbow film surrounding the two infant dragons grew brighter, all at once. The sensation of soft feathers on Alice's arms turned to smooth hardness. After a few blinks, she realized that she was cradling two large eggs.

The silvery eggs shrank smaller and smaller, until they were capable of resting side by side in the palm of her hand, and the rainbow glow around them faded at last. As she nestled the eggs against her cheek, Alice tried to interpret what had just happened. Zora must have determined that the maximum value of Amayori's and Takiguri's lives was so great that sacred arts alone could not restore it. So instead, he shrank that maximum value as small as it could go—effectively returning them to their embryonic egg form and preventing them from reaching death.

Alice was currently the most powerful user of sacred arts in the entire world, and even she couldn't imagine what combination could produce such an effect. But she was not worried. The only thought she kept was warm certainty that she would one day meet the dragons again. She wrapped the two eggs between her hands gently and looked up to the sky again.

Alice: Thank you...and welcome back, Zora.

She whispered tearily. There was no way her voice could reach the figure floating in the distant sky, but the man in the black and white coat nodded firmly back to her and smiled again.

Zora: No. I'm sorry for having put you through so much. Thank you, Alice. We'll meet again in the real world.

Then with the use of his Incarnate Arms, Alice's Osmanthus Blade flew from her hips towards Zora's instead.

Alice: Zora?

Zora: I'll be borrowing this. So I know you'll have my back till the end.

Then Zora slowly turned and faced the darkness-shrouded pursuer. Sparks crackled here and there in empty space, as if the world itself was unable to withstand the pressure of two massive sources of competing Incarnation.

Alice:...Zora... That enemy will not be defeated by any typical attack, even from you.

Alice said, biting her lip in concern.

Philia: It'll be all right, Alice.

She spun around to see a real-worlder standing near her in dark-blue armor.

Alice: Philia...

The girl with short dandelion hair swaying in the wind just smiled at her and reached out to touch her back.

Philia: Let's put our trust in Zora. The two of us need to rush to the World's End Altar.

Alice: R-right.

She replied, but she knew it would not be as easy as that. Alice looked to the south, where the Wall at the End of the World rose high above the horizon—and a small white island floated before it.

Alice: The altar is probably atop that island. But we can't ride on the dragons anymore, so I don't know how to get up that high...

Philia: Don't worry. Let me handle that.

Philia assured, drawing the twin daggers of black and white from her waist. She pointed it at the distant island and let her long lashes droop low. Suddenly, there was a booming lunar light just like the one Philia had used during the Dark Army's ambush last night. The Lunar light fell directly downward onto the gray desert from the sky. She was using the Illusion-Reality Art, Lunaria's GM power.

The ground rumbled beneath their feet, and a white stone slab rose out of the sand just before them. Grunk, gru-gru-grunk! Another slab appeared behind it, slightly higher, and then another. Alice watched in awe as a white staircase formed itself in the air, building up to the distant floating island in just a dozen or so seconds. When the turning the illusion into reality was complete, Philia lowered her daggers and fell to a knee in the sand.

Alice: P-Philia...!!

Philia: I'm...fine. Let's hurry...We've only got about eight minutes until the altar closes...

Alice(mind): Closes?

Alice didn't understand the meaning of that in the moment, but Philia grabbed her by the hand before she could ask. She got to her feet, pulled by Philia, and began to run up the white stone staircase. As she ran, she glanced over her shoulder to look once more at her pursuer and the swordsman in black facing off in the sky.

Alice(mind): There are many, many things I want to say to you and ask of you. So you'd better win. Win and then come back to me.

Zora:...

The sight of the two swordfighters practically flying up the white stairs to the island floating over the gray desert was so beautiful, so poetic, so symbolic that Zora could only marvel at it. He had to sear the image into his mind.

Zora(mind): Alice. Philia. This is good-bye.

There was a reason Zora hadn't told Philia that the acceleration rate was going to reach five million times real speed and that if they didn't escape before then, they'd be trapped in here for two hundred years of perceived time.

If they knew that, both Philia and Alice would stand with him to fight. Even if it meant they'd fail to escape before the time limit. As soon as Zora's become conscious of the presence of the foe pursuing Alice, he'd shivered at the alienness of Vecta's nature. But in fact, presence wasn't even the right word. The only thing there was nothing. He was a void, a black hole that devoured all information, even light.

The chances of defeating an enemy like this before the time limit, then escaping with all three of them present, was extremely low.

So that made it clear to Zora what his priority should be: he had to log Philia and Alice out of the Underworld. Nothing could come before that—nothing. So Zora fixed the painting-like image of beauty below him into his mind, then turned away to face the enemy hovering nearby. It was utterly unfathomable, now that Zora was finally facing off with it.

It was male. Zora was pretty sure of that. But that was all he was sure of. The form of Vecta's face, if it was an avatar of his choosing, seemed to be intentionally designed to match the "average white male" appearance. His features weren't bad; it was just that there was nothing notable about them. He could only be described as having white skin, blue eyes, and blond hair.

His physical figure was utterly average for a white male. A body, neither fat nor skinny, wrapped in a military jacket. It wasn't clear whether that meant he was a soldier—because the jacket's black-and-gray camouflage pattern was constantly shifting and moving like some kind of slime mold. He also had a sword on his left side that appeared to be a Divine Object.

Philia had warned Zora on the trip here that this man was a member of the special-ops team that had invaded the Ocean Turtle. That would make this person a mercenary hired by some group or company looking to steal tech related to artificial fluctlights. But the man floating there and staring at Zora with lifeless marble-like eyes did not feel like the type of human being who was motivated by crass concerns like money. He didn't feel like a human being at all.

When one second had passed, Zora spoke.

Zora: Who are you?

His answer was immediate. The man's voice was smooth and yet somehow metallic in nature.

Subtilizer: One who seeks, steals, and snatches away.

Instantly, the aura of darkness surrounding his being writhed and amplified. I felt a slight breeze blowing from behind. The air—the very information that made up the world—was being sucked into the darkness.

Zora: What do you seek?

Subtilizer: Souls.

With each answer, the suction increased. It wasn't just the information of the world, either—Zora felt his own consciousness beginning to succumb to that empty gravity. Then something resembling an expression floated past his lips. The faintest of smiles, but one utterly removed from anything you might call emotion.

Subtilizer: And who are you? Why are you here? What right do you have to stand before me?

Zora: Who...am I? I'm...

The hero the Underworld always needed?

Zora(mind): Hardly.

A knight who protects the human realm?

Zora(mind): No.

Each suggestion that came to his mind was rejected, and each slipped right out of him, like it was being stolen. And yet, for some reason, Zora couldn't stop the thoughts from coming.

The hero who defeated the deadly game of SAO?

Zora(mind): No.

The greatest VRMMO player alive?

Zora(mind): No.

The Night Sky Swordsman? The Dual-Wielder? Triple-Wielder?

Zora(mind): No, no. None of those things were what I wanted. So what was I...?

Zora could feel his mind starting to fade, to slip away—when Zora thought he heard two familiar voice call his name.

Rumia: You are Zora.

Eugeo: You're Zora the Swordsman.

Zora head rose—he hadn't realized it had dipped—and he named himself as Zora had been called.

Zora: I'm Zora! Zora the Swordsman!

Bzak!! Sparks flew, and the tendrils of darkness clinging to him were cut loose. Immediately, Zora's mind felt sharp and focused again.

Zora(mind): What just happened to me? Was this man using the STL to interfere directly with my mind?

Zora hastily strengthened the defensive wall of imagination around him and focused on the man's eyes. They were truly empty—bottomless darkness that absorbed the minds of others.

Zora:...And your name is?

Zora asked, barely realizing what he was doing. The man thought briefly.

Gabriel: Gabriel. My name is Gabriel Miller.

Zora could sense that this was not a character name or an online alias but the man's actual identity. For just a few seconds, Gabriel's appearance had changed. His gaze had become sharper, icy, dangerous. His lips pulled back, and his cheekbones sharpened. As his features returned to that earlier fake look, the aura of darkness he exuded instantly thickened. At this stage, Zora finally realized that the man's right arm was entirely missing from the shoulder down. The unsteady mass of darkness that was acting as his right arm slid down to his left side and grabbed the sword.

He drew it with a squelch, but the sword did not have a physical blade to it. There was just an empty darkness there, extending about three feet from the hilt like black fire. It was a truly unreal thing. With his shadow arm holding a blade of malignant darkness, the man swung it forth, the blade issuing an eerie vibration. Zora distanced himself a bit and pulled out the three swords over their scabbards—Blue Rose in his left hand, Osmanthus in his mouth pointing the blade to the right, and Night Sky in his right.

In the long, long past, in a different world than this one, Zora had engaged in battles of life and death with three swords, just like this. This was the real Zora...the real Triple-Bladed Zora.

In terms of blackness, the sword carved from the Gigas Cedar's branch was no slouch itself. But while Zora's sword reflected the light like some black crystal substance, the man's sword was as dark as if the space itself had been removed from existence. This was a level beyond PoH's Mate-Chopper and its ability to absorb resources.

But there was no retreat, not even against the most unfathomable of opponents. Zora had to hold off this enemy until Philia and Alice could finish climbing that staircase hundreds of yards tall.

Zora: Let's go, Gabriel!!

Zora said, choosing to speak his name without losing the Osmanthus Blade in his mouth. The wing-shaped ends of his coat flapped powerfully, pushing him upward. Zora crossed the swords before his body.

Zora: Generate All Elements!

Using the air around Zora itself as a terminal, he generated dozens of each and every type of element, then activated all of them at once as he fell.

Zora: Discharge!!

Flaming arrows, spears of ice, blades of wind, and many other elements raced through the air. Zora's swords swung downward, following the spells. Gabriel Miller did not move a muscle to evade any of it. He just grinned thinly and spread his hands. Omnicolored light stabbed through the blue-tinged darkness covering his body.

Zora didn't miss the way Gabriel faltered briefly above the waist. Zora slashed Gabriel's torso with his right sword, slashed Gabriel's neck with his sword in his mouth, and thrust through Gabriel's chest with his left. The sticky darkness burst aside, leaving a chill on Zora's skin where it brushed him.

Zora's momentum took him past Gabriel a good distance before Zora turned back toward him. Zora caught sight of the darkness pulling back in from its undefined shape— and Gabriel turning to face Zora as though nothing had happened. There wasn't a single scratch on his jacket.

Zora(mind): I knew it. He had the ability to absorb and drain slashes, thrusts, flames, ice, wind, water projectiles, steel arrows, crystal edges, light beams, and dark curses.

And Zora's right shoulder, which Gabriel sword of nothingness had brushed when they passed each other, sprayed blood from the place where both coat and flesh had simply vanished.

Gabriel Miller glanced down at the Priestess of Light, Alice, and the other girl with her as they ran up the white staircase hanging in the air.

Gabriel: I estimate another 5 minutes until they reach the system console.

That meant he couldn't be wasting time with this bothersome interloper. The logical choice would be to neutralize the young man and proceed to the floating island quickly. But Gabriel found himself just the tiniest bit interested in his opponent and chose to hover here.

At first glance, he was nothing but a child. Compared to the aged swordsman he'd fought to mutual death earlier, there was nothing imposing about this boy. Like Sinon, he was probably some Japanese VRMMO player cooperating with Rath somehow, but even that girl had more presence than he did.

For one thing, the boy was exuding barely anything you might call fighting spirit. There had been a brief moment when Gabriel was able to glean his will, when he asked who he was, but that circuit had closed instantly. Since then, he'd deflected all of Gabriel's mental feelers as completely as though he was covered in a transparent shell. There was no joy in fighting an enemy whose mind he couldn't taste.

Better to eliminate him at once and go after Alice, Gabriel thought briefly. But when the young man transformed the ends of his coat into wings, then wielded all kinds of magic at once, Gabriel changed his mind a bit. He sensed that the boy was accustomed to this world.

Once Gabriel acquired Alice and the Soul Translation tech and fled to a third country, he still had to do the work of building a virtual world just for himself and to his exact liking. Stealing this young man's level of control wouldn't be a bad idea, to ensure that he could perform the task efficiently. So the first step would be to crack the shell of his imagination. Gabriel smiled almost imperceptibly, then spoke in Japanese to the boy in black and white.

Gabriel: I'll give you three minutes. Entertain me.

Zora: How very generous of you.

Zora muttered, sealing the wound on his shoulder with a single trace of a finger. There was plenty backing up Gabriel Miller's confidence, however. For one thing, the fact that he was immune to basically any kind of attack.

Zora(mind): No, there must be at least one kind of attack that works on him. I'm sure that it was Sinon who blew his arm off—she was fighting him first. She must have imagined her Hecate II rifle and shot him with it. That would mean that even Gabriel can't absorb a bullet attack.

It couldn't be a coincidence that Gabriel was also wearing a military jacket. He would know the power of an antimateriel sniper rifle from real-life experience, and perhaps that meant he couldn't completely negate the thought of the damage he would suffer with willpower alone.

But Sinon would be able to materialize a gun in the Underworld only because it was as familiar to her as her own arms and legs. Zora couldn't repeat an accomplishment like that, and even if Zora could somehow make a pistol, it wasn't going to have the power to stop Gabriel.

In other words, Zora had to find something aside from a gun that this eerie man would recognize as a source of damage. And that would mean knowing Gabriel as a person. Zora had to figure out how Gabriel lived, what he wanted, and why he was here. Zora held his Triple swords perfectly still before him and let a smile curl the corners of his mouth.

Zora: All right. I'll give you some entertainment.

Gabriel(mind): Where was his confidence coming from? Clearly he had spent a long time logged in to the Underworld and was very familiar with the systems that underpinned this world, but he was still just a child. A gamer. He'd just been shown that his flashy swordsmanship and fanciful magic attacks were completely meaningless. How could he still wear that impertinent smile?

Gabriel found the fearless attitude to be mildly unpleasant and came to the conclusion that it must be a bluff to buy time. The boy knew that dying in this world would have no ill effects on his real-life body, and he was relying upon that knowledge. All he wanted to do was draw out their fight until his companion could escort Alice away safely.

Gabriel(mind): He was just a stupid child, after all. Three minutes was more time than he deserved.

Gabriel raised the empty blade he held in the hand built of willpower— and stuck it into the back of the winged creature that he rode upon. The monster was, like his sword and stonebow, simply the repurposed form of the jetpack that his converted character had brought over. While he could control it at will, it was slightly unstable with him being able to touch it with only his feet. A more logical choice would be to turn it into wings only, like the boy was doing.

The monster screeched briefly at the skewer in its back before it was sucked into the void. Gabriel moved the data that came through the blade from his arm to his back and focused his mind. With a great flapping, black wings just like the boy's sprouted from his shoulder blades. These were not the membraned wings of a bat, but those belonging to a bird of prey, covered in sharp feathers. They were much more suitable for a man bearing the name of an archangel.

Gabriel:...I've already stolen one thing from you.

Gabriel whispered, pointing his empty blade at the young man.

Zora: !

Zora had been planning to get rid of the man's flying disc–shaped mount with his next attack, so Zora was briefly taken aback when got rid of it himself. Gabriel didn't miss his chance. He slid into sword range with a flap of his black eagle wings. The speed of his thrust without any windup was astonishing. Zora had taken Gabriel for an amateur when it came to swordplay, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Zora swept his swords upward, aiming their intersection at the point of attack.

Gzyrk!

The sword of inky darkness came to a halt just before Zora's nose with an eerie sound. The Osmanthus Blade, The Blue Rose Sword and The Night-Sky Blade rattled violently. While his weapons weren't being corroded, it did feel like Zora was trying to cut emptiness itself. It wasn't hard to imagine that the actual swords were being put under terrible strain.

But the choice of a Cross Block rather than a backstep was intentional on Zora's part. Rather than pushing back against Gabriel's downward swing, he pushed it to the right and gave Gabriel a tremendous high kick.

Zora: Raaah!!

Zora screamed. The toe of Zora's boot glowed orange as it shot upward and caught Gabriel's pointed chin. The darkness burst outward, and Gabriel's upper half rocked backward.

Zora(mind): How about that?!

Zora beat the air with his wings, darting backward to add distance between them and give Zora time to watch Gabriel. Maybe it wasn't a gunshot, but if Gabriel really was a special-ops commando, he would have taken some combatives training and should recognize the damage of a good blow.

Gabriel's head rocked back into position, but on the surface at least, he was totally unharmed. The darkness that splattered from his chin reformed at once into smooth skin. He rubbed it with his hand and grinned.

Gabriel: Ah, I see. Unfortunately, that kind of showy action only looks good on TV.

Zora's right arm was stuck in full extension. Something slithered around it: Gabriel's left arm. It wrapped around Zora like a thick snake until it had full control of the joint—and with a horrible gurnch, Zora felt agony assault his brain like lightning.

Zora: Aaagh...

Gabriel: Like this.

Zora gasped. Right up close, Gabriel whispered. That was just the start of a ferocious rush. Gabriel raised his hand, curved the fingers like claws, then opened them wide.

Over ten bolts of black lightning spread outward, then bent at sharp angles and bore down on Zora. The air cracked, and in midsentence, Gabriel rushed at Zora so fast he was nothing but a blur of black. His sword came down from the right, and Zora used the Osmanthus to block it on instinct, swinging back with the Blue Rose Sword and the Night-Sky Blade. The edge caught the top of the enemy's shoulder and eyes and, with a sensation like being surrounded by dense liquid, came to a stop.

The sword of emptiness lashed out with a blinding combo of what felt like infinite strikes. Zora tried to defend against them with his left sword and the sword in his mouth, but they slipped past Zora's block here and there, carving out little pieces of him. Zora had no time to focus on recovering from his broken right arm.

Zora: Hrg...oahg...

Zora grunted, beating his wings in an attempt to put distance between himself and Gabriel. Gabriel himself shot out multiple black tendrils that slithered themselves across Zora's. As Zora bolted backward, he ran the fingers of his left hand across his other arm, which was just barely able to hold on to its sword. Right when the light began to gather there, Zora gritted himself teeth and put up an imaginary wall for defense. Zora had total confidence when he'd used the same technique to protect Alice's dragons from the lightning, but half of his concentration was going to healing his arm now—and it was that very understanding that weakened the strength of the shield.

Dull vibrations rattled Zora's body in several places. Three tendrils of darkness penetrated Zora's shield and drove into his torso and legs. Before the pain, Zora felt only a ferocious chill running through his senses. There was blue-black nothingness clinging to the places where Zora was pierced, eating away at his very existence.

Zora: Rrrgh!!

Zora grunted again, then sucked in a breath and screamed for energy. It dispersed the emptiness, but fresh blood gushed from the new wounds that remained.

Gabriel: Ha-ha-ha.

Zora looked up to see Gabriel's empty features twisting with mirth.

Gabriel: Ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.

It wasn't laughter. His lips were upturned, but the muscles around his eyes were still, and those marble-like eyes swirled only with hunger. Gabriel crossed his arms and made a gesture of gathering power. The dark aura around him shuddered heavily. It flickered like a violent flame, growing thicker.

Gabriel: Haaaaaah!!

Gabriel roared, throwing his arms wide. Two new black wings grew above the ones he already had, and they spread themselves outward. Another pair grew from below, too. Gabriel beat his six wings in order, top to bottom, and gradually gained altitude. A black ring appeared over his head, and his camo jacket lost its shape, transforming into a thin cloth of wriggling darkness. Somehow, his eyes were no longer human, either. The sockets were filled with nothing but dark light. He had become an Angel of Death.

A transcendental being that hunted the souls of humans and stole them.

Zora(mind): What attack could possibly work against a self-image like this?

Zora tore his eyes from this personification of horror and checked on Philia and Alice, who were racing up the midair staircase, hand in hand. They had just crossed the halfway point. It would take another two or three minutes for them to get to the floating island. At this point, Zora was already losing confidence in his ability to buy that much time.

Sheer omnipotence. Gabriel laughed a third time at the fabulous power that rippled through his very being.

Gabriel(mind): So this was what imagination—or what the elder swordsman had called Incarnation—could accomplish in this place.

Now he had the same level of power as the swordsman who cut backward in time or the dark general who transformed into a whirlwind giant—even more power, in fact. Gabriel had assumed their abilities were the effect of some system command he didn't know about, but that wasn't true. They simply knew exactly how strong they were. And it was because this black-haired boy had exhibited all his little tricks that Gabriel understood how it really worked.

Gabriel(mind): I shall give you one more minute as a sign of my appreciation.

Gabriel spread his six wings and raised his sword of darkness. Within the next minute, he would carve up this boy's flesh, extract his soul, and devour it—to gain even greater power. With dark-purple sparks shrouding his form, Gabriel went into a charge.

Zora:...

Zora looked up at an enemy that was no longer even human. There was nothing he could imagine now that Gabriel would fear and consider a threat. Even the right arm that Sinon had blown off was perfectly regenerated, a sure sign that even bullets would no longer harm him.

Zora(mind): In the end, I just didn't have the willpower.

Zora hadn't underestimated Gabriel Miller. Gabriel's eerie, alien nature deserved the highest level of caution. But in a sense, perhaps Zora had given up on winning this fight before it even started for that very reason. Zora was thinking only of buying time, extending the fight until Alice and Philia could escape, so that both Gabriel and Zora would be trapped in Hell for two hundred years, never to return to reality.

Zora(mind): Oh...that's it. Maybe...I wanted this to happen? A true other reality, something greater than even Aincrad. The utopia that Akihiko Kayaba wanted and tried to create. Wasn't that what the Underworld really was?

In the two years Zora had spent trapped in SAO, he'd constantly asked himself whether Zora really wanted to escape. The reason that Zora was a hesitant member of the frontier group that pushed to clear the game was because he felt a vague premonition that there was a hard time limit on how long he could live there. With Zora's body stuck in a hospital bed and living off only fluids, it was just a matter of time before he wasted away physically.

But in the accelerated time flow of the Underworld, that wasn't a concern. With five million seconds passing here for each one second in reality, there was no need to think about his physical body. Zora would remain in this world until the life span of his soul reached its end.

Zora(mind): Could I really claim that I wasn't entertaining that thought, even if only in my subconscious? And for what result? I wasn't thinking about them. Kazuto, Suguha, Mom, Dad. Asuna, Rio, Yui, Klein, Agil, Yuuki, Shino, Liz, Silica...all the many other people who'd saved me. And Alice. Philia.

All those people who would mourn Zora's loss and shed tears of grief.

Zora(mind): In the end, I was a person who was incapable of truly knowing another person's mind. Nothing about me had changed from the time I'd given up on having a family that truly cares about me...

Eugeo: You're wrong, Zora.

Rumia: That's not what you truly want, Sora.

A familiar voice. A faint warmth in Zora's frozen left hand and around his neck where his locket lies.

Eugeo: If you don't want to leave this world, then it's not for your own sake. It's because you love the people you met here. Selka, Tiese, Ronie, Miss Liena, the people in Rulid, the people you met in Centoria and at the academy, the Integrity Knights and men-at-arms...and Cardinal, and maybe even Administrator... and probably me. Your love is huge and wide and deep. Enough to bear the weight of the entire world.

Rumia: But the same can't be said of your opponent. That man is the one who doesn't know others. He cannot understand them. That's why he seeks. And tries to steal. And tries to destroy. It's because...He fears us.

Gabriel Miller saw the delicate tears trickle down the boy's cheeks. His sword-bearing hands curled inward toward his chest in fright.

Gabriel(mind): He had succumbed to fear at last. The fear that wells up when someone as cocky as him is on the brink of death...

The fear and despair of death was the one emotion that Gabriel actually shared with other people. From the day that he'd taken Alicia Clingerman into the woods behind his house to kill her, Gabriel had ended the lives of many people, seeking the shining brilliance of the soul. But he never again saw the cloud of light that he'd witnessed emerging from Alicia's forehead. Instead, he slaked his thirst by tasting the fear of his victims.

Gabriel(mind): I wonder how it tastes.

What flavor would he taste in the fear of this boy, who was so endlessly confident in himself? The old hunger and thirst roared up from the foundation of his being. Gabriel licked his lips and held his outstretched fingers high. Little black orbs appeared and buzzed like flies. He lowered his fingers, and the orbs surged with very fine lasers that jabbed into the boy's body from all angles. Moments later, blood sprayed from him in a red mist.

Gabriel: Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!

Gabriel bellowed, rushing downward with his empty sword at the ready. He easily thrust it through the boy's stomach. The torso covered in a black shirt and coat was ripped apart by the howling, hungering void and split effortlessly in two. Blood and flesh, bone and organ, all went flying.

Gabriel thrust his left hand into the midst of that precious ruby-red splatter. He grabbed the largest pulsating jewel of all—the heart hanging from the boy's chest—and tore it free.

In his palm, the bloody mass continued beating in resistance. Gabriel lifted it to his mouth and, with no expression whatsoever on his face, whispered to the dying boy.

Gabriel: I will now devour your feelings, your memories, your mind and soul...your everything.

The Angel of Death said. Zora could barely keep his eyelids open to see. Gabriel Miller's colorless lips opened wide, and as if biting into a ripe apple, his sharp teeth touched the heart he'd stolen from Zora....Creshk.

It made a horrible, bloodcurdling sound. Gabriel's mouth gaped and gushed with blood. It wasn't Zora's blood, however. And there could be no faulting Gabriel for his reaction. He'd bitten down on countless tiny razors that Zora had generated with steel elements inside his heart.

Gabriel: Urgh.

Gabriel grunted, bringing a hand to his mouth and backing away. Ragged, Zora said.

Zora: As if you would find...the mind or memory...in there. The body is just...a vessel. Memories...are always...

Zora shot his eyes opened and it was now glowing pure gold.

Zora:...IN HERE!! BLENDED TOGETHER WITH MY CONSCIOUSNESS, FUSED INTO ONE, NEVER TO BE SEPARATED!!!!

The pain of having his heart torn out was so great that Zora couldn't even call it pain anymore. But this one moment was going to be his last and greatest chance. Zora would not get another one. Rumia didn't given up on him when Sora had lost all hope. Even Eugeo had continued fighting with his body split in two. Zora spread his swords to either side, his blood spraying everywhere, and shouted.

Zora: Release Recollection!!

Bright-Gold, Pure-white and Pitch-Black exploded together. The Blue Rose Sword, pointed straight ahead, emitted many vines of ice, which wrapped themselves dozens of times around Gabriel's body.

The Osmanthus Blade split into countless tiny pieces, reflecting the light of the fire as they danced up into the air surrounding Zora's body turning him into a Bright Golden Stars, and it a crisp, clear, ringing sound.

And the Night-Sky Blade, pointed straight up, formed a great pillar of darkness that stretched to the heavens. The beam of black light extended with a tremendous roar, splitting the bloodred sky to go even beyond it, as if colliding with the sun itself, and spread in every direction. The sky was covered. That bloodred color was painted over with stunning speed, and the light of day was drowned out. The darkness soon reached the horizon, then spread even farther beyond it. But this was not the darkness of emptiness. It had a smooth texture and a faint warmth to it.

An Infinite night sky.

(Elsewhere)

At the base of the eerie, looming rocks that dotted the empty wasteland, Sinon lay alone, quietly waiting for the last of her HP to run out. The wounds where her legs had been blown off itched and stung endlessly, clouding her thoughts. She clutched the chain around her neck as though it were her lifeline, but she could tell that her arm was going steadily more numb.

As her thoughts faded, she began to wonder whether this was a sign of her log-out approaching or whether she was approaching actual unconsciousness —and that was when the color of the sky changed. At noon, the eerie bloodred sky began to turn totally black with astonishing speed, starting in the south. The light of the sun was blotted out, the gray clouds vanished—and in a blink, the darkness enveloped Sinon.

But in fact, this was not total blackness. There was a faint, ever-present source of light shine ever so dimly at the outer edge of the world. There she saw a pure golden star shine under the night sky. A gentle breeze blew past, rustling her bangs. It was night. The curtain of night, gently embracing the world to heal it. Suddenly, Sinon found herself recalling a scene from her distant past.

It was a desert night in a different world. Racked with the pain of an incident that had happened to her as a child, Sinon had hurled her agony at Zora and bawled. The strength and tenderness he'd shown her by hugging and accepting her seemed to fill the starry sky above them.

Sinon: That's it. This night...it's Zora's heart. And that golden star is his center.

He wasn't the blazing sun. He wasn't the sort to stand above everyone else and lead them with his radiance. But he would support you from behind when times were tough. He would ease your sadness and dry your tears. Like the stars that shone delicately but constantly. Like the night. Zora was engaging in combat with Subtilizer—Emperor Vecta—to protect this world and all the lives within it. He would be fighting back against a vast enemy, fighting and fighting and wringing every last ounce of strength he possessed.

Sinon: Then please—let my heart reach him, too.

Sinon prayed, gazing up at the night sky with teary eyes. Directly overhead, a single pale-blue star flickered.

(Elsewhere)

Leafa lay on her brother's lap amid the throng of orcs and pugilists, also awaiting the end. Leafa no longer had the strength to stomp her foot and make use of Terraria's healing power to heal both her and Kirito's injuries. Kirito on the other hand, sat there on his knees, where her sister lays. Both his arms were gone after he overused his muscles and bones to use Shiva's power of destructions.

Their body, lacerated and pierced by countless blades, was as cold as ice. They couldn't move a finger.

Lilpilin: Leafa...don't die! Yoh not supposed ta die!!

Lilpilin howled, the chief of the orcs, who knelt at her side. Tears filled his beady eyes. She gazed at him with a little smile and whispered.

Leafa: Don't...cry. I know...I will come...back.

When he responded to this by hunching over further, shoulders trembling, Kirito smile weakly at her.

Kirito: We couldn't save our Brother directly, but this was still for the best. We fulfilled my role.

Leafa: Yeah...

That very moment, as if in response to the voice of their heart, the color vanished from the sky. The red atmosphere of the Dark Territory suddenly plunged into darkness. Only one single stars shine bright at the outer edge. Cries of shock and alarm arose from the orcs and pugilists. Even Lilpilin lifted his soggy face to stare in disbelief.

But both Kirito and Leafa were neither shocked nor afraid. They could sense the scent of their brother in the gentle night breeze from the south that followed the golden stars and Leafa caressed her cheek.

Leafa: Big Brother...

Kirito: Bro...

They murmured, taking a deep breath. Zora was the person Kazuto was closest to in his life—and also the most distant. Before he discovered the truth on his own, he must have subconsciously sensed that all was not as it seemed—that his mother and father weren't his real parents. From the moment Suguha was old enough to understand, Kirito was plagued by a shadow of loneliness and isolation. He didn't try to form close ties with anyone else, and the moment it seemed like friendship was about to bloom, he destroyed it himself.

That tendency led him into an online-game obsession. That was when he met a boy named Zora, who is the polar opposite of him. Zora seek to be loved by a family, regardless whether they'd be related by blood or not. Because he believed that genuine relationship was by love, not blood relations. And that love gave him the role of "the hero who saved SAO" didn't seem like an ironic coincidence to Kazuto. He didn't think it was preordained salvation for Zora, either.

It was a path that Zora whom is like a brother to Kirito chose for himself. One that he would not run away from, but strive to bear as best he could. That was the strength Zora possessed. The strength that Kirito still lacks.

This night sky and that golden star was nothing less than proof that Zora chose to shoulder the burden of the world and everyone who lived in it. And that was because...

Kirito: Zora's far more of a swordsman than I could ever be.

With the last of their strength, Leafa reached out her unfeeling arms and made a kendo grip above her chest, while Kirito smile weakly at the golden star. Then they prayed.

Leafa(mind): Let the strength of my heart reach his sword.

Kirito(mind): Please unite all of our heart to his.

High overhead, a white and green star flickered to life.

Iskahn:...

Iskahn the champion pugilist watched from a short distance as the boy and girl in black and green armor were caught in the throes of death, surrounded by kneeling orcs and pugilists. He was filled with an indescribable emotion.

There was a ferocity in the way they fought that went beyond even words like demonic. Iskahn felt like he understood now why the orcs had disobeyed the emperor's orders and rushed to the pugilists' aid. Chief Lilpilin and his three thousand troops had judged them to be more powerful.

But that wasn't true. There was only one reason the orcs obeyed Leafa and Kirito—gave them their allegiance —and that was because Leafa had told them they were human, according to what Lilpilin had said. When he'd proudly revealed that to Iskahn, his one eye had shone with a stunning purity, completely devoid of the hatred of humanity that had twisted it so much.

Iskahn: Hey, woman...I mean, Sheyta...

Iskahn said to the gray knight standing beside him.

Iskahn: What is power...? What does it mean to be strong...?

Sheyta, now a knight without a sword, tilted her head with curiosity, causing her long ponytail to sway. Her cool eyes looked at the dragon behind them, then at Dampa, the stout warrior with both shoulders bandaged, and then to Iskahn. Her lips curled into a little smile.

Sheyta: You already know the answer. You know there is a power greater than anger and hatred.

In that instant, the familiar bloodred sky of the Dark Territory was plunged into darkness. Iskahn gasped and looked upward, where he saw a white and green stars twinkling silently. Sheyta reached up and pointed at it.

Sheyta: That...that is true strength. True light.

Iskahn:...Yeah...yeah...that's it.

Iskahn murmured. Something entered his good eye, causing the green light to blur. For the first time in his life, he squeezed his wounded fist not to punch, and he prayed for something other than victory.

In the white and green star's proximity, a deep-red one appeared, burning like a flame. Right beside it was a gray light. Within moments, the surviving pugilists began to chant one of their war songs as a chorus, and a carpet of hundreds of stars came into view.

Three thousand orcs gazed into the night in the same way and added their own prayers. So did the dark knights in their close-knit group in the back. Some of them had joined the orcs in protecting the pugilists from the mystery army. Soon the number of stars was over a thousand, and then ten thousand.

(Elsewhere)

Lisbeth clutched Silica's hand, staring at the sunless sky. The stunning sight of the red color turning into blackberry darkness where one golden star shine dimly reminded her of another unforgettable day. The afternoon in early winter when SAO had been running for two whole years. Lisbeth had rushed out of her shop to see the message plastered across the bottom of the floor above announcing that the deadly game had been defeated. Instantly, she knew it had been Zora.

Lisbeth(mind): Zora beat the final boss with the sword I forged.

After they got back to the real world, Zora once told Lisbeth...

Zora: The truth is I actually lost. Heathcliff's sword went through my chest, and my HP went to zero. But for some reason, my avatar didn't vanish right away. For just a few seconds, I could still use my right hand, and I managed to score a dual kill. I think it was you and Philia and Kirito and Asuna and Silica and Klein and Agil who helped give me that extra moment. So in a way, it wasn't I who beat SAO. All you guys are the real heroes.

At the time, she had just laughed it off and slapped him on the back, asking why he was being modest. But that was probably exactly how he felt. What he really wanted to say was that true power was found in the connections between people.

Lisbeth:...Hey, Silica...

She murmured to her friend nearby, taking her eyes off the golden stars.

Lisbeth: I think...I really do love Zora.

Silica grinned.

Silica: So do I.

They returned to gazing up at the softly shining night sky. Before she closed her eyes, she could see Asuna and Yuuki holding hands with each others, Klein in the distance, raising a fist, and Agil muttering to himself with his hands on his hips. Lisbeth listened to the voices of all the Japanese players, who were praying and hoping in their own way.

Lisbeth(mind): We're diving into this world through our AmuSpheres...but I know you can hear us anyway, Zora. Our hearts are connected.

Up above stretched a carpet of hundreds of stars.

Renly the Integrity Knight placed one hand on the neck of his dragon, Kazenui, as he held Tiese's hand with his other. He gazed up at the abrupt night overhead, nearly forgetting to breathe.

Changing the day into night was a frightful feat not found in any of the Church's records. But Renly was not afraid. When he had been run through with two spears and had accepted his imminent death, light had rained down from the sky and healed his fatal wounds without a trace. This night contained the same nurturing warmth that the healing rain had.

As the weakest of the Integrity Knights, Renly found it very curious, and also unforgivable, that he had survived all the way to the end. He believed that dying bravely in battle, like Dakira and Eldrie had, was the only way to bring redemption to the late friend whose name he could no longer remember.

But as the rain of light had healed him, Renly had been able to feel something different. The black-haired swordsman who couldn't get up from his wheelchair had lost his only friend, too. He had closed off his heart in the pain and anguish of blaming himself for that death.

However, that swordsman had risen to his feet again. And like Renly's Double-Winged Blades, the weapon he used was a memento of his lost friend, and he sent the thousands of enemy soldiers back to their outside world with incredible skill. The sight of his back taught Renly something.

Renly: To live. To live, fight, and connect hearts and lives. That, and only that... Only that is the proof of strength.

Renly muttered, squeezing Tiese's hand a bit harder. The redheaded girl's other hand held Ronie's, and Sortiliena was on Ronie's other side. Tiese looked up at Renly. Even in the darkness, the deep red-brown of her eyes was visible. Those eyes softened, and she bobbed her head. The four of them gazed at the black sky overhead and offered up their prayers. Four powerful lights formed a constellation in the midst of hundreds of other stars.

(Elsewhere)

The members of the main force of the Human Guardian Army at the Eastern Gate—the Integrity Knights Fanatio and Deusolbert, the apprentice knights Linel and Fizel, and a number of the lower knights—were all speechless, looking up at the untimely night sky, where one golden star glow brightly. The thoughts each cradled to his or her breast were different, but the strength in their prayers and wishes was equal.

Fanatio prayed for the world that the late Commander Bercouli had loved and the world in which the new life within her would live.

Deusolbert clenched the tiny ring that matched the one he wore on his left hand, and he prayed for the world in which he'd lived with the person whose finger he'd placed it on.

Linel and Fizel prayed that they would once again meet the swordsman who'd shown them what true strength was.

The other knights and men-at-arms prayed that peace would return to their beloved home and last forevermore.

In the mountainous region of the northeastern Dark Territory, the mountain goblins prayed, and in the wasteland to the west, the flatland goblins prayed.

In the central wetlands, the orcs waiting for the return of their husbands and fathers prayed, and in the highlands to the southwest, the giants prayed.

The dark-skinned humans in the city outside the Imperial Palace of Obsidia closed their eyes to pray, as did the ogres in the southeastern grasslands.

(Elsewhere)

The blanket of night crossed the End Mountains, too, and instantly covered the Human Empire. At the church in Rulid, a remote village at the northern end of the Norlangarth Empire, Selka the apprentice nun paused in the act of drawing water at the well for clothes washing and was stunned to see the pure-blue sky transitioning to blackness, starting in the southeast and heading in the opposite direction. The rope slipped from her palms, and the wooden bucket slapped back down into the water, but she didn't hear it. Her voice escaped in a tremulous whisper.

Selka: Sister...! Zora......!

On the night breeze, Selka saw the pure golden Star shining on its own under the night sky. There she could sense that, at this very moment, the two people she loved more than anyone else in the world were fighting for their lives.

That meant Zora had opened his eyes again. He had recovered from his despair over the loss of Eugeo and stood on his own two feet once more. Selka knelt in the short grass, crossed her hands over her chest, closed her eyes, and murmured.

Selka: Eugeo. Please...please protect my sister and Zora.

When she looked up again, a little blue star flickered to life above her head. A number of colored stars sparked up around it within moments. She realized that all the children who had been playing in the church courtyard were now kneeling on the ground in silence, clutching their hands together in prayer.

So were the traders and housewives in the clearing in front of the church.

And the farmers in the pastures and barley fields.

Alice's father, Gasfut, prayed in his office. Old Man Garitta prayed at the edge of the forest. Not a single soul quaked in fear at this phenomenon. The sky over Rulid was blanketed in sparkling stars.

(Elsewhere)

In the same way, stardust covered the sky over the larger town of Zakkaria to the south. At Walde Farm on the outskirts of town, the farmer and his wife and their twin daughters, Teline and Telure, prayed at the windows.

All the people in the villages and towns across the four empires offered silent prayers.

So did the residents of the massive city of Centoria in the middle of the human realm. Including the students at Swordcraft Academy and the teachers.

The many monks and bishops of the Axiom Church were no exception.

The girl who operated the levitating platform that connected the fiftieth to eightieth floors of Central Cathedral did something for the first time in her long, long life. While on duty, she removed her hands from the tube for generating wind elements and clasped them together as she gazed up at the endless starry sky beyond the windows.

She knew nothing of the world outside the cathedral. The death of the pontifex and the invasion of the Dark Army had effected no change in her life. So she prayed for just one thing.

Operator(mind): I pray that I might see those two young swordsmen again.

(Elsewhere)

The midday night that covered the entirety of the vast Underworld glittered with well over ten thousand stars of every color. With a chorus of sound like bells ringing, they began to shoot across the sky toward a single point, starting from the most remote location and moving inward.

That point was at the southern tip of the world...at the end of the pitch-black sword raised on high near a little floating island called the World's End Altar. From the black longsword held high in the swordsman's other hand, a surge of darkness shot straight upward into the sky and from there blanketed the entire world.

But it was not utter void.

Countless little lights sparkled in the sky to the north, swarms of stars twinkling in every color, painting the sky...the night. And suddenly—they began to move.

With pure, delicate melodies like bells or harp strings, the stars gathered toward the very southern end of the world. They trailed lines of white, blue, red, green, and yellow, forming a vast rainbow across the night sky.

Alice: !

Alice was finally seeing the end of the staircase up ahead as she ran—but then she noticed that her own shadow on the white stone underfoot suddenly melted into a much larger shadow. She looked up on the run and witnessed a sight that beggared belief. An enemy with six black wings, wielding a sword of emptiness without clear form. Ice vines binding the man dozens of times over.

Clutching the shining white longsword that was the source of the ice, a swordsman in black with dragon wings. The swordsman's body was missing below the chest. His life should have instantly been obliterated, but thanks to her golden flowers that wrapped around him, and his unfathomable willpower kept him fighting.

The real miracle, however, was in the sky above them. With a burst of intuition, Alice knew that these stars represented the hearts and minds of all the people living in this world.

The lightlanders.

The darklanders.

The humans.

The demi-humans.

All were joined as one in prayer.

Alice: Zora!!!

Alice called out, throwing her hand into the air.

Alice(mind): Take my heart, too. I may have a heart of scant months and years, in this artificial life as a knight, but this feeling I have—the emotion that surges from my chest—must be real.

A brilliant golden star was hurled from her fingertips and flew straight for Zora's sword.

Philia(mind): Zora.

Philia did not turn back. The one way that she could live up to Zora's battle to the death was to not waste a single second of the time she had and to head directly for the system console.

So Philia pulled Alice by the hand and expended every ounce of her concentration on running up the staircase. Still, she could not stop the burning feeling that filled her lungs. That emotion turned into two droplets that slid down her eyelashes and cheeks before dripping off. The drops were borne on the night breeze and melted into one, becoming a star that sparkled in every color.

For just an instant, Philia looked up at the star, which left an aurora trail behind it, then she refocused on the ascent. She held on to faith.

Gabriel: !!

Gabriel Miller was in disbelief that he could be bound by mere ice. A moment earlier, he had rebuffed magic attacks of every kind, and he had even nullified a slash attack from a sword.

Yes, the dozens of razors that the boy had implanted in his own heart had damaged him. But that was only because his mental image of chewing had given him a solid, physical mouth. At this point, his entire being was covered in a thick layer of defensive darkness.

Gabriel(mind): I am the one who reaps. The one who steals all heat, all life, all existence. I am the abyss.

Gabriel: NULLLLLLL!!

He growled, but it was not so much a word as it was an inhuman sound that tore through his suggestion of a throat. The three pairs of black wings on his back all transformed into blades of emptiness, just like the one in his right hand. They beat violently, tearing the space around them. The pale vines of ice were severed, giving him freedom of movement again.

Gabriel: NULLLLLLL!!

Gabriel howled, an openmouthed discordance, arranging his seven empty swords—hand and wings—in every direction. He thrust his one empty hand before him to release wires of darkness that would bind the boy instead so he could see how it felt. It was only then that Gabriel noticed the red color was gone from the sky —and that thousands of shooting stars were soaring just over his head.

Zora:...

In the moment that Zora released the memory of the Night-Sky Blade, he was actually unable to summon a concrete image. All that Zora held was the distant echo of what Eugeo had said when the sword that he'd referred to as "the black one" for so very long was finally given a name.

Eugeo: In fact, I think your black sword should be called the Night-Sky Blade. What do you say? Envelop...... this... sorrowful world... as gently... as the night...... sky......

The darkness that surged from the sword turned day into night and created the very night sky it was named for. When the thousands of stars came from the north and flowed into the sword in a rainbow cascade, Zora could sense what had happened.

The power of the Night-Sky Blade was to absorb resources from a vast range of space. And the greatest resource in this world was not the sacred spatial resource that the system itself designated, like the sun and the earth. It was the power of the human heart. The power of prayer, of wishes, of hope.

Finally, the last of the seemingly endless waterfall of stars shot into Zora's sword. When two additional lights came up from the surface, golden and iridescent, and melted into the weapon, too, the Night-Sky Blade shone multicolored with the wishes of all humanity. The light flowed from the hilt into Zora's arm, filling his body. The bottom half of his body, which Gabriel had destroyed, instantly regrew itself with the warming glow of the brilliance. The starlight gathered in his left arm, and the starlight that gathered within his mouth, too, causing the Blue Rose Sword and the Osmanthus Blade there to shine as well.

Zora:...

Zora stare at his final opponent. There was nothing human about him now. His form shone and gleamed like some eerie liquid metal, coated in a black aura, while violet-blue light like the fires of Hell licked from his eye sockets. Then with a heavenly piercing glare from both sides, they unleashed a roar so powerful that it could be heard throughout the Underworld.

Zora: RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!

Gabriel: NULLLLLLL!!

Zora bellowed, pulling back the swords. Gabriel, who bore down on Zora, free from his icy prison. The mammoth sword of pure void in his hand pulled back, and the similar blades coming from the ends of his wings stretched toward Zora from all directions. A second later, Gabriel's other hand sent out a tangle of dense black wires that leaped towards Zora.

Zora:...Haaah!!

Zora shouted, deploying a wall of light to deflect them. The wing-flap ends of Zora's coat beat hard. With the Osmanthus Blade grip tightly in his mouth and his left sword held before him and Zora's right sword behind him, Zora leaped off the empty air. There was hardly any distance between them, so a full-speed charge would take less than a second. But Zora felt a ripple in time, like the moment was being extended indefinitely.

On Zora's right, a figure appeared. It was a knight in black armor, with a mustache and an enormous sword. His arm hugged a tan-skinned female knight close to him.

To his left appeared a powerful man with short hair. A steel longsword hung from his casual blue clothes. A broad grin creased his hearty features: Integrity Knight Commander Bercouli.

To Bercouli's side was a girl with perfect white skin and long silver hair. Administrator's mirror eyes and enigmatic smile were followed by a whispered message.

Lastly, right in front of Zora appeared a young girl wearing a robe and a scholar's cap. On her shoulder, next to the hanging brown curls of her hair, was a small spider. It was the other pontifex, Cardinal.

Shasta: Young man, cast aside your urge to kill. His empty soul cannot be cut with an Incarnation of murder.

Bercouli: Don't give in to fear, boy. The weight of the world itself rests upon your sword.

Quinella: Show me now. Exhibit all the holy power that you received from me.

Cardinal: Zora, you must believe. Believe in the hearts of all the people you loved and who love you.

Behind her tiny spectacles, her dark-brown eyes glinted kindly. Then all of them disappeared—and Zora's last and greatest foe, Gabriel Miller, entered sword range. With more power in his arms than Zora had ever possessed before, he executed the Triple Blades sword skill that Zora had practiced more, and relied upon more, than any other in his repertoire.

Zora: TWILIGHT ECLIPSE....!!!!!

A thirty eight-part combination attack.

Zora: Raaaaaaaah!!

Swords brimming with starlight left behind stunning trails in the air. Gabriel's six wings and one blade roared toward Zora from all directions. With each clash of light and emptiness, giant flashes and explosions shook the world itself.

Zora(mind): Faster. No, faster.

Zora: Raaaaaaah!!

Zora howled, speeding up his body, fusing it with his consciousness, accelerating the three swords.

Gabriel: NULLLLL!!

Gabriel screamed, striking back with seven swords.

Thirty two strikes.

Thirty three.

With each clash, the energy released dispersed outward into space, crackling off in search of equilibrium as bolts of lightning.

Thirty four.

Thirty five.

There was no anger, no hatred, no murder in Zora's heart anymore. Only the endless strength of countless prayers was fueling him now.

Zora: IT'S TIME FOR YOU...

Thirty six.

Zora:...TO FEEL THE BRILLIANCE...

Thirty seven.

Zora:...OF ALL THE HEARTS IN THIS WORLD, GABRIEL!!!!!!!

The thirty eigth and final swing was a full overhead slash from the left, delivered after climactic pause. Gabriel narrowed his inhuman eyes, certain of his victory. An instant faster than Zora's devastating final blow, the black wing from the enemy's right shoulder severed his left arm at the root.

The shock was so sudden that it forced Zora to drop the Osmanthus Blade that he was gripping in his mouth. The arm brimming with light burst, leaving behind the Blue Rose Sword and Osmanthus Blade in the air.

Gabriel: LLLLLLLLL!!

Gabriel crowed as the empty sword in his right hand came crackling downward, wreathed in black lightning. Fwap. With a reassuring sound, four hands that did not belong to Zora grabbed the hilt of the Blue Rose Sword and the Osmanthus Blade.

Bursts of white and black flashed with a tremendous cracking sound. The Blue Rose Sword and The Osmanthus Blade crossed block the empty blade firmly in place. Rumia and Eugeo turned to him, their hair swaying.

Eugeo: Come on! Now's your chance!

Rumia: End this, Sora!

Zora: Thank you, Big Sis!! Eugeo!!

Zora shouted back.

Zora: Raaaaaaaaaaaaah!!

Zora drove another slash from the right, the thirty ninth in the sequence, directly onto the top of Gabriel's left shoulder with all his strength. That black liquid metal sprayed as the sword dug in deep and came to a stop right where Gabriel's heart should be. And then... All the starlight that filled Rumia, Eugeo and Zora, The Night-Sky Blade, The Blue Rose Sword, and The Osmanthus Blade flowed into Gabriel's heart as a rainbow surge.

Gabriel Miller could feel a deluge of unlimited color and energy pouring into the empty abyss within himself. His vision was covered with every shade of color, and a chaotic chorus of voices passed through his hearing.

Dear God, please...

Let him be safe...

End the war...

I love you...

The world...

Please...

Please save the world!

Gabriel:...Hah, hah, hah.

Despite the boy's sword through his heart, Gabriel spread his arms and wings wide and laughed.

Gabriel: Ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!! It is pointless. You cannot fulfill my hunger, my endless emptiness, with mere light.

It would be as pointless and arrogant as attempting to warm the universe itself with human hands.

Gabriel: I will drink every last drop and devour every last morsel!!

Gabriel shouted, black lightning shooting from his eyes and mouth.

Zora: You can't! Not when the only thing you feel about the strength of the heart is fear!!

Zora shouted back, a golden surge pouring from his being. His sword blazed even brighter, sending infinite heat and light into the enemy's frozen heart. Gabriel's vision turned sizzling white, and his ears were saturated with sound. But it did nothing to stop his gales of laughter.

Gabriel: Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, haaaaa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!

Gabriel(mind): I had no fear. The void that filled my enemy was nothing short of a black hole, but I had swirling galaxies born of a multitude of prayers within me.

The hue of the dark-purple lightning shooting from Gabriel's eyes and mouth gradually began to shift. From purple to red. To orange. To yellow—and then to white. Crack, went a faint noise, and a tiny fissure ran through the liquid-metal body surrounding the Night-Sky Blade. Then another. And another. More white light poured from the cracks. The base of the six wings extending from his back began to glow with fire. Where his mouth opened wide with laughter, it began to crumble and lose definition. Holes appeared in his shoulders and chest. Beams and curtains of light were shooting out of every crack running all over Gabriel's body, and still he did not stop laughing.

Gabriel: Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...

His voice grew higher and higher pitched until it was nothing more than a metallic whirring vanishing from hearing range. The great dark angel's form was entirely covered with white cracks—and in a single instant, it compressed, imploded... And released. An explosion of light on a gargantuan scale formed a spiral that shot upward to the heavens.

It was at that moment, that the flow of time in the Underworld began to accelerate again. The moment that time was no longer perfectly synchronized, the hundreds of Japanese players connected to the Underworld with AmuSpheres were kicked off, returned to their bedrooms or Internet-café booths, and left with nothing but whatever they'd been feeling moments before.

None of them spoke in the immediate aftermath. They all reflected on what they'd experienced in that strange world, committing it to their innermost memories. When any tears they'd shed had been wiped away, they went to their smartphones and AmuSpheres. They had to tell the friends who had logged out first exactly what had happened.

Just before the reacceleration began, Kirito and Sinon and Leafa left the Underworld due to loss of life. While Asuna was forced to logged out due to the STL overload date. The four woke up in Rath's Roppongi office, feeling the last traces of their pain fading away. They all looked into each other's eyes and bobbed their heads.

Neither Kazuto nor Asuna nor Shino nor Suguha had any doubt that Zora had returned to life, had defeated the final enemy, had saved the world, and would return before long.

And the next time they saw him, they would express how they felt in words—whether he was capable of hearing them or not.

Each sensed this determination in the others, and they shared a secret little smile. However... With the safety limiter off on the Fluctlight Acceleration function, the pulse of time in the Underworld sped toward a level it had never before reached.

Over a thousand times as fast. Over five thousand. Heading toward the far side of the chronometric wall, five million times as fast as time in the real world: the maximum-acceleration phase.

(Underworld)

When the light of the stars vanished, so did the energy that was filling Zora's being, and he floated in an exhausted state, face up to the sky. The left arm that had been cut off and disintegrated was back on his shoulder. Zora squeezed the Blue Rose Sword in that hand with whatever strength Zora had left, and with his right hand, he squeeze the locket in his neck and he fought back the tears that threatened to fall.

Zora:...

When Eugeo's soul had infused the Blue Rose Sword, and Rumia's memory locket that had appeared in the Underworld, saving Zora and pushing him onward yet one more time, Zora could sense intuitively that his act of stopping Gabriel's sword had consumed him at last.

Zora: In the real world and in the Underworld, the dead did not rise to life. That's what made memories so precious and beautiful... Isn't that right, Big Sis, Eugeo...?

Zora murmured. There was no answer. Zora lifted the two swords and slowly slid them into the sheaths affixed to his back. While sheathing the golden one on his hips. Within moments, the night sky overhead began to fade. The darkness melted away, returning the atmosphere to its normal color......Blue.

Zora:...

This time, for some reason, the sky over the Dark Territory was not its usual bloodred color. There was just pure crystal blue as far as the eye could see. Was it the effect of the maximum-acceleration phase underway, or was a miracle caused by the prayers of tens of thousands of people at once?

There was no definite answer, but whatever the reason, the clear-azure color was so beautiful it made Zora want to cry. Longing and sentimentality threatened to tear him apart, so Zora simply let a lungful of the beautiful blue into his body.

Afterward, Zora closed his eyes, let out a long breath, and slowly turned. When Zora opened his eyes again, he was looking at the white staircase far below, which was crumbling without a sound. Zora beat his wings and slowly descended along the collapsing staircase. His target was the little island in the sky.

The round floating island was covered with a wild bloom of flowers in all colors. A white stone path ran through the field and into a templelike building at the center of the island. Zora landed in the middle of that path, returned his coat from its current winged state to its usual hem, and looked around him.

A sweet, gentle scent like honey tickled his nose. A number of little lapis- blue butterflies fluttered about, and songbirds trilled from the branches of the few trees growing in the area. The clear-blue sky and soft sunlight made Zora feel as if he were in the midst of a pastoral painting.

The island was devoid of human presence.

Zora did not see anyone on the path or in the temple with its circular pillars, either.

Zora:...Oh, good. They made it in time.

After Gabriel had been sucked into the spiral of light and had vanished, Zora could feel the FLA function kicking in. The timing was such that Zora couldn't be sure whether Philia and Alice had safely escaped to the real world through the console. Now Zora knew that they'd crossed the lengthy staircase and reached their goal in time.

Alice—the very reason this world was created, a soul like no other, the knight whose fluctlight broke through its boundaries—had traveled to the real world at last.

There would be many tribulations awaiting her after this. A world with completely different laws and common understanding, a limited mechanical body, and a fight against the forces who wanted to use true artificial intelligence for military purposes.

But Alice would be capable of handling it. She was the most powerful Integrity Knight in existence.

Zora:......Hang in there...... Alice.

Zora prayed, thinking of the golden knight he would never see again and looking up at the blue sky. Yes, now that the maximum-acceleration phase had begun, Zora had completely lost the ability to voluntarily log out from within the Underworld. All three system consoles had stopped functioning, and even if Zora lost all his life now, he would have to wait in darkness without sensation for the phase to finish.

In the outside world, Kikuoka and the Rath team would be trying desperately to shut down his STL, but that would take at least twenty minutes. And in that time, two hundred years would pass in this world.

Zora: Now then, 200 hundred years, huh?

Zora(mind): Would I lose consciousness with the end of my soul's life span first, or would the acceleration rate of five million times prove to be unbearable over a long period, causing me to disintegrate sooner?

All Zora knew for certain was that he could not return to the real world again.

Zora: My parents. Kazuto. Suguha. Asuna. Yuuki. Sinon. Klein, Agil, Liz, Silica. My friends at school and in ALO. Alice. And Philia. I would never again see the people I loved.

Finally dawning on him on about whats to happen, Zora fell to his knees on the white stones. His hands flew forward to keep him from toppling face-first. Zora's vision blurred. Light sparkled and wavered, then fell and burst against the marble paving stone. Again and again. Over and over. This time, at least, Zora knew he had the right to cry.

Zora: Everyone... I'm sorry.

Zora cried for the precious things that he had lost and would never regain. Sobs leaked through his gritted teeth, and a stream of liquid dripped down Zora's cheeks. Drip, drip-drip. The only sound was the droplets hitting the stone. Drip. Drip.

Zora: ?

???:...Tek. Tek, tek.

Suddenly, another sound overlaid it, a sound of a different density. Tek, tek. It was coming closer. Zora could feel the vibrations through his fingertips. The air rustled. There was something faint and familiar amid the rich scent of the flowers.

???: Tek. Tek.

The sound came to a stop just before him. Then someone called his name.

???:...Zora.

It was a voice of pure crystal, a voice Zora never thought he'd hear again.

???: As usual, you turn into a crybaby on your own. I know that about you... I know everything there is to know about you.

Zora lifted his tearstained face. There stood Philia, hands behind her back, head tilted a little, smiling down at him. Zora didn't know what he should say. So Zora didn't say anything. He just looked up into those familiar azure sky eyes of hers and stared and stared. A little breeze picked up, and the fluttering butterfly between them rode the wind up into the blue sky. Philia watched it go, then looked back at Zora and held out her hand.

Zora had a feeling it would vanish into illusion if he touched it. But the gentle warmth Zora felt radiating from her white palm told him that the person he loved most of all was right there. Philia knew the stakes. She knew this world was going to be sealed shut—and that return to the real world would come only at the end of an unfathomably vast length of time.

And that was why she'd stayed. For Zora. Just for him, who she knew would probably make the same decision in her situation. Zora reached out and squeezed her delicate hand. With her support, Zora got to his feet so he could look into those beautiful eyes from up close. Still Zora had no words.

But Zora didn't feel like he needed to say anything. All he did was draw her slender body close and hold her tight. Philia let her head drop against his chest and whispered.

Philia: When we get back there... Alice is going to be angry, isn't she?

Zora thought of that confident golden knight, blue eyes flashing like sparks as she scolded him, and Zora laughed.

Zora: It'll be fine as long as we remember her. As long as we don't forget a second of the time we spent with her.

Philia:...Yes. You're right. As long we remember Alice...and Asuna and Kirito and Yuuki and Liz and Klein and Agil and Silica and Yui... and Rio... everything will be all right.

They ended their embrace, nodded to each other, and looked to the empty shrine together. The World's End Altar had ceased to function, and it slumbered silently beneath the gentle sun at the very edge of the world. Zora turned to her, held her hand again, and started to walk down the marble path. They continued past the colorful flowers until they were at the northern end of the floating island. The world seemed to continue forever beneath that deep-blue sky.

Philia: How long do you think we'll be living in here?

Zora was silent for a good long while, then told her the truth.

Zora: A minimum of two hundred years, apparently.

Philia: Ah...

Philia murmured. She gave Zora a smile that hadn't changed for as long as he'd known her.

Philia: Even a millennium with you wouldn't feel too long... C'mon, Zora. Let's go.

Zora:...Yeah. Let's go, Philia. We've got so much to do. This world is still just a newborn.

Then they joined hands, spread their wings, and took the first step into the infinite blue sky.