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 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, "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. Kirito 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: Thank you... Yami, Kirito.

She whispered tearily. She had no idea which of the boy actually used his Incarnation since her emotions were all over the place because of what had transpired today.

Yami: Let me take it over from here.

Yami said, facing the enemy still. Sparks crackled here and there in empty space, as if the world itself was unable to withstand the pressure of the three massive sources of competing Incarnation. She felt something even greater before but actually seeing it was unbelievable.

Alice: Yami.....

From very close by, two voices said something,

????: It'll be all right, Alice.

????: Let's go, Alice.

She spun around to see a real worlder standing near her in pearly white armour, the boy she saw a family, with and another real worlder standing in her long blue skirt with a short top over her upper body.

Alice: Asuna... Eugeo... Sachi.

The short flaxen boy reached one of his arms toward Alice and said.

Eugeo: Let's put our trust in Yami. We need to rush to the World's End Altar.

Kirito: yeah seems he wants the action and let him take the rest.

Alice rushed into their arms, it was a long day and she needed to be in their embrace no matter how she looked. Everyone wrapped their arms around her.

Asuna and Sachi smiled at the sight, Asuna pulled her rapier from her side and pointed it up at the floating island above them.

Suddenly, there was a booming angelic chorus- Laaaaaaaaa!- just like the one Asuna and Sachi had heard during the Dark Army's ambush last night. A rainbow of light fell directly downward onto the gray desert from the sky.

The ground rumbled beneath their feet, and a white stone slab rose out of the sand just before them.

Grunk, gru-gru-gurnk! 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 altering of the geography was complete, Asuna lowered her sword and fell to a knee in the sand.

Them: Asuna!

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

Alice: Closes?

Alice didn't understand the meaning of that at the moment, but Eugeo and Kirito then gently grabbed her hand before she could ask. They began to run up the white stone staircase. Alice glanced by at the swordsmen one more time before she turned to Eugeo and Kirito and followed their speed.
———

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

————
(Yami's POV)

It was utterly unfathomable, now that I was finally facing off with it.

It was male. I was pretty sure of that.

But that was all I was sure of.

The form of his 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 blonde hair.

His physical figure was utterly average for a white male. A body, neither fat nor skinny, wrapped in a military 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 Demonic Object.

I swear I looked at the handle and it's design. It looked like a corrupted version of Medina's Mirage Blade.

I known on the trip here that this man was a member of the special ops team that invaded the Ocean Turtle. That would make him a mercenary hired by some group or company looking to steal tech related to artificial fluctlights. But the man floating there and staring 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 passed, I spoke.

Yami: so Gabriel you taken your GGO account here and attacked Sinon and my inner demon.

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

Gabriel: 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.

Yami: you seek souls because in your mind they taste like wine.

With each answer, the information continued to suck into this man's Incarnation. He was literally a counter against Limitless if I wasn't too careful.

Then something resembling an expression floated past his lips. The faintest of smiles, but one utterly removed from anything you might call emotion.

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

Yami: me? Oh I'll let you in something that will be your last. I'm an Observer a god who watches the events unfold. I'm here to stop these events from happening but some are same.

The tendrils of darkness that were trying to cling to us were blown back by my Incarnation. This man was trying to Interfere directly with my mind using the STL for an unknown reason.

For just a few seconds, his 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. The unsteady mass of darkness covered his right arm and 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 empty darkness there, extending about three feet from the hilt like black fire. It was a truly unreal thing.

With his shadow arm holding the blade of malignant darkness, the man swung it forth, the blade issuing an eerie vibration. the man's sword was as dark as if space itself had been removed from existence.

I breathed in and out as I taken out Excalibur and combining it with holy energy.

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

Yami: Let's go, Gabriel!!

He was using the air around me itself as a terminal, he generated every element and I could feel it was a dozen of each, then activated all of them at once as he fell from the sky.

Flaming arrows, spears of ice, blades of wind, and many other elements raced through the air. I summoned a clone as it appeared in my field of view, swinging the swords through the air, I used Blue to push myself forward while using a form to test something again Gabriel that even he can't beat.
———
(No POV)

Gabriel Miller glanced down at the Priestess of Light, Alice, and the five others as they ran up the white staircase hanging in the air. He gauged their time of arrival at the system console to be five minutes from now. What interested him how the white haired boy opened a portal as he send other Underworlders to Ocean Turtle.

That meant he couldn't be wasting time with this bothersome interlopers. 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 opponents and chose to hover here.

At first glance, they were nothing but children. Compared to the aged swordsman he'd fought to mutual death earlier, there was nothing imposing about that boy. Like Sinon, they were probably some Japanese VRMMO player cooperating with Rath Somehow, but even that girl and the person who knocked him out had more presence than that boy.

For one thing, the boy were exuding barely anything you mighty call fighting spirit.

There had been a brief moment when Gabriel was able to glean the white-haired boy's will when they attacked him, but that circuit had closed instantly right after. 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.

Gabriel: Better to eliminate him at once and go after Alice.

But when the white-haired young man was ingulf in an aura, then sparks of lightning appeared. 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 field 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 their 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 that imagination and that invisible force.

Gabriel smiled almost imperceptibly, then spoke in Japanese to the boy in a lightning aura.

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

Yami:*smirks* big mistake, Gabriel.

Gabriel: Where was their confidence coming from?

Clearly, they had spent a long time logged in to the Underworld and were very familiar with the systems that underpinned this world, but they were just children. A gamer. They'd just been shown that their flashy swordsmanship and fanciful magic attacks were completely meaningless. How could the war those impertinent smiles?

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 they were relying upon that knowledge. All they wanted to do was draw their fight until their Companions could escort Alice away safely.

They were just stupid children, after all. Three minutes was more time than they deserved.

Gabriel raised the empty blade he held in the hand now built of willpower- and struck It into the back of the winged creature 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 white-haired 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, There 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 white-haired young man.

Over ten bolts of black reddish lightning spread outward, then bent at sharp angles and bore down on us. Yami had to race down to the ground below him since he knew they wouldn't touch him unless his Incarnation directly touched it and not just some lightning he created, that meant his sword had to be the one to touch Infinity if he wanted to get through it.

He raised his left hand in the air, focusing his Incarnation to strengthen his Infinity as the bolts of lightning collided with it before disappearing immediately after. But then Gabriel appeared in front of him, swinging his sword down upon Yami.

But he was quickly to counter the attack and slashes his back and blasted a Big Bang Attack and damaged him.

He tried once again to hit him but were directed at the ground around hin. The ground was- no the whole earth was shaken the moment the first bolt collided with the ground. The black gravel shot upward because of that bolt and the other bolts continued following me through the narrow airway that the mass of rocky structures.

After over half of the bolts had hit the ground or dispersed, Yami flew high into the air and turned to face them. Yami slashed at them with his right sword and created a vertical square in the air with his slashes without actually using the sword skill.

Yami high in the air began to trade blows with Gabriel and it seemed he wasn't about to deal with him at the same time by the few attacks he's launched.

Like all his other attacks, he paid it no mind and flew directly into the attack. But that was my plan the whole time as he created a distortion in the air above him and he was flung upward the second he made it through the chain of purple fire.

Yami flew into the air and he activated <<Horizontal>> slashing him across his arm of darkness. Of course, it did damaged him but as it was immediately replaced by more darkness and he swung his blade upward to slash Yami, He managed to redirect his attack off to the side as he flew past him.

He pointed his blade at me and beams of darkness shot out from his arms that headed straight for him. Yami quickly puts up a force field to block the attack.

The beams of darkness only stopped momentarily at the wall that was Infinity before they ate away at the Information imbued into Shunpo.

He was still new to waking up after being in a coma, which meant the defence was strong against opponents that couldn't directly affect the information of the world. But not with Gabriel.

They drove into his torso and legs. Before the pain, he felt only a ferocious chill running through his senses. There was blue-black nothingness clinging to the places where he was pierced, eating away at his very existence.

Yami: Rrrgh!!

He grunted in the first real wound he suffered since he woke up, then sucked in a breath and screamed for new energy from his power. It dispersed the emptiness, but fresh blood gushed from the new wounds that remained.

Gabriel: Ha-ha-ha.

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

Gabriel: Ha-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 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: Haaaaaaaah!!

He 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.

He laughed a little, gathering the ki he had saving up for the fight from the battle he had from fight PoH and his trial version.

Sheer omnipotence.

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

So this is what Imagination- or what the elder swordsman had called Incarnation- could accomplish in this place.

Now he had the same level 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. He simply knew exactly how strong he is. And it was because the white-haired boys had exhibited all their little tricks that Gabriel understood how it really worked.

Gabriel: 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 the boy's flesh, extract their souls, and devour them to gain even greater power.

With dark purple sparks shrouding his form, Gabriel went into a charge.

Yami: so once the limit has reach I might be stuck here for a while huh?

Gabriel saw the tears trickling down their faces while their facial expressions were unknown since they were looking at each other.

Gabriel assumed they succumb to fear at last.

The fear and despair of death were 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 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.

What flavour would he taste in the fear of the boy, who were so confident in himself? The old hunger of 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 shot toward the boy.

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

Bellowed Gabriel, assuming Yami had given up hope.

But suddenly a invisible force pushes him away. Yami takes a deep breath as his aura gotten more tense as his screams a bright light appeared he covered his eyes as it was too bright even for him. The light was getting dimmer and dimmer until Gabriel felt shock in his entire life to see the form.

On the final battlefield of the American Players, Yuuki and Leafa both stood there feeling the air itself begin to tremble under the weight of Yami's and Gabriel's Incarnation clashing. The goddess and the knight of Lunaira were holding each other hands, praying for their boyfriend's victory against the creature known as Emperor Vecta.

Then suddenly, 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 the four goddesses.

This was in fact, not total blackness.

There was a faint, ever-present source of light trickling onto the ground around them, Leafa's heart and Yuuki's right hand. A bright white/yellow star shining brightly giving them warmth, healing their worries and giving them hope and salvation.  The two merely glanced at each other before smilies rose upon their faces.

Yuuki: This is...

Leafa: Yami's heart.

The two of them closed their eyes, releasing their hands to place them over their hearts.

Leafa: Let the strength of my heart reach their swords

High overhead, a single green star flickered to life.

Yuuki: Yami, I know you can defeat whatever enemy comes in your path between you and your goals. I'll support you no matter what.

A purple star flickered with life.

Back with the final battle of Bercouli, Sinon was standing atop the rock looking to the south of the Underworld. She couldn't see the battle but she could feel the air rumbling because of their Incarnation clashing in the air.

Then the entire Underworld turned to blackness but in fact, this was not total blackness.

Sinon's back began to glow lightly and wrapped itself around her back where the wings that saved her life had appeared. A gentle breeze blew past, rustling her bangs and clothing.

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 Yami and bawled. The strength and tenderness he'd shown her by hugging and accepting her seemed to fill the starry sky above them.

This night... It's Yami's heart.

They weren't the types to be blazing suns. Not the sort to stand above everyone else and lead them with their radiance. But they would support you from behind when times were tough. They would ease your sadness and dry your tears. Like the stars that shone delicately but constantly. Like the night.

Sinon: Please... let my heart reach him, too,

Sinon prayed, gazing up at the night sky with teary eyes. Directly over her, a pale blue star flickered with life.

Everyone in the Human Empire, every player from ALO and GGO had begun to pray to Yami.

Gabriel: what is that form!?

Yami: *smirks**serious voice* this is what it's called Super Saiyan 3, Gabriel. This form...I can beat you easily even with your Angel of Death form.

Gabriel growls and shot lightning at rapidly from each strike hitting him and the smoke was blocking his vision. A powerful wind pushes the smoke and it barely made a scratch on Yami.

Yami: you call that an attack? I'm disappointed in you calling yourself the Angel of Death.

He punched his face and he was pushes out. Gabriel swings his sword at Yami was dodging each swings easily as he did a roundhouse kick and kicks rapidly with a kick to the head.

Yami was punching the Angel of Death's face and did a drop kick. He sees a punch coming towards him but he catches the attack.

Yami: you are nothing just a man who doesn't have real powers.

He had a Ki Ball ready and blasted Gabriel as he crashed down to the ground. Gabriel growls and blasted towards him with him swinging his blade.

Gabriel: die!!

But each swing comes with Yami dodge the attacks. One attack Yami landed on Gabriel's blade as he blasted him with a Light Grenade.

He growls as he slashes Yami's chest as blood came out. He smirks thinking he landed a damaging blow but shocked to see the wound just healed instantly with a punch to his face sending him crashing to the ground.

Yami: you don't have real powers like blasting out ki, summon people from other universes, transformations, demons, angels anything. All you do is just talk, bark but no bite Gabriel.

Gabriel: I'm going to take your soul!!

Yami: time to end this once and for all!! *telepathy* everyone raise your hands, pray, raise your weapons and lend me your energy!!

So everyone rises their weapons, hands and prayed as their energy was send to Yami. He has both of his hands in front of him, palms open and hands turned up at approximately a 90-degree angle.

Yami: I'll send you to the next world with this... TIMES ONE HUNDRED!!! BIG....BANG....KAMEHAMEHA X 100!!!

Then he spoke to Quinella and Cardinal.

Yami: NOW USE THE ARTS TO DAMAGE HIM!!

After uttering the name of the attack, he condenses and fires it as an enormous streaming energy wave, dealing massive damage to Gabriel.

Every element of each sacred arts were hitting Gabriel damaging his body. 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-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.

———-

When the light of the stars vanished, so did the energy that was filling Yami, and he floated in an exhausted state, facing up to the sky. The sky was beautiful, the endless night from his powers, the Perfect Weapon Control, Ki everything he unleashed with his heart.

Yami; That's it...stuck here for 200 years until I'm pulled out of this world.

This time, for some reason, the sky over the Dark Territory was not its usual bloodred colour. There was just pure crystal blue as far as the eye could see.

He released the transformation in his grasp and the form vanished back into yami's base form.

He closed his eyes, let out a long breath, and slowly turned to the World's End Altar and the collapsing staircase leading up to the floating island.

He flew up to the floating island at a medium speed instead of full speed since it didn't really matter if he checked immediately since if there was anybody still on there we couldn't say anything about them having to leave. Yami landed on a smooth marble floor as the aura disappeared.

The round floating island was covered with a wild bloom of flowers in all colours. A white stone path ran through the field and into a temple-like building at the center of the island. Yami made our way to the building staring around the island for any signs of life.

A sweet, gentle scent like honey trickled through 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 blow sky and soft sunlight made me feel as if Yami was in the midst of a pastoral painting.

The island was devoid of human presence.

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

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

He stared up at the blue sky far above him, grateful that Asuna, Alice, Eugeo, Edith, Kirito and Sachi had all made it out of the Underworld in time.

Yami: Good luck, Alice, Eugeo, Edith.

Yami prayed thinking of the golden knight, the grey knight and the blue outfitted boy who he'll would probably never see again. He thought more about Alice and Eugeo thinking how having more family with them.

Yes, now that the maximum acceleration phase had begun, he had completely lost the ability to voluntarily log out from within the Underworld. All three system consoles had stopped functioning, and even if he lost our lives now, he'd would have to wait in Darkness without sensation for the phase to finish.

He probably wouldn't be there for when his two children their first steps, first words, his family, his lovers, everything.

He didn't want this but Yami had to save the hope that is Eugeo, Edith and Alice, allowing them to possibly connect the two worlds, the real one and the Underworld, Yami is going to be left in his hands by the end of the two hundred years. This is just how it was going to go. His servants had return to his inner world to rest after using their energy.

He glanced any direction but it was blurry until he started to cry.

Drip, drip-drip

Sobs leaked through his gritted teeth, and a stream of liquid dripped down Yami's cheeks.

Yami: after all of these years...*sniff* I was able to save them from death but I couldn't save them all....*sniff* I'm sorry...

Yami fell to his knees, staining the marble floor in his tears. He heard three other sounds overlaid it, sounds of a different density.

Tek.

...Tek.

Tek...

The sound stopped right before him. Then someone called his name.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

End of Volume