Alicization Rising

by Reki Kawahara

  The dark space beyond the fifty-cen opening exuded the chill of centuries of silence. Eugeo shivered, then had to hurry to squeeze through after Kirito entered without a care. The doors swung heavily shut behind them, leaving them in perfect darkness.

  “System Call…”

  Their voices spoke in perfect unison, and in spite of the dead-serious situation, Eugeo couldn’t help but smile. The rest of the command was Generate Luminous Element, which reminded Eugeo of the time they’d gone to find Selka in the Northern Cave two years ago. At the time, even the simplest of beginning sacred arts was unbelievably hard to execute, and they could only weakly light the end of a stick.

  A source of pure white light appeared above his palm, driving away the thick darkness and Eugeo’s wistful recollection along with it.

  “Whoa…,” Kirito murmured. Eugeo swallowed.

  What incredible size. The word armory had called to mind a space like the supply closet at the academy, but nothing could be further from the truth here. It was at least as big as the great training hall where Kirito had sparred with Volo Levantein.

  The light element danced upward from Eugeo’s palm, reflecting off all the polished stone walls—and more importantly, off shining metal of every variety and color.

  The floor was packed with wooden stands for full sets of armor. Black armor, white armor, bronze, silver, gold—a blinding array of shades, as well as shapes, from light chain and boiled leather to seamless slabs of heavy plate. There had to be at least five hundred sets in the room.

  And hanging all over the high walls was an assortment of what appeared to be every conceivable weapon. Even with swords alone, there were long and short ones, thick and slender, straight and curved. There were single-and double-bladed axes, spears, lances, war hammers, whips, bludgeons, and bows—every possible variation of weaponry in uncountable numbers, stretching from floor to ceiling. Eugeo’s mouth dropped open and hung there.

  “…If Sortiliena ever saw this place, she might just pass out,” Kirito finally whispered, breaking the silence after many seconds.

  “Yeah…I think Golgorosso would have leaped onto that greatsword there and never let go,” Eugeo muttered, letting out his breath at last. He looked around the room again and shook his head a few times.

  “I don’t get it…Is the Church going to form its own army or something? You’d think the Integrity Knights were enough…”

  “Hmm…To fight the forces of darkness? No, not quite,” Kirito murmured, looking pensive. Then he turned to his friend. “It’s the opposite. They’re not creating an army…they’ve collected all these weapons to keep one from being created. I bet all these things are Divine Objects, or the next best thing to them. Administrator must have been worried about any other group getting these powerful weapons, so she gathered them all here to keep that strength out of the hands of others…”

  “Huh…? What does that mean? No group would ever fight back against the Axiom Church, even if they did have powerful weapons.”

  “Maybe it means that the one with the least faith in the Church’s power is the pontifex herself,” Kirito said drily. Eugeo didn’t understand that at first, and his partner patted him on the back before he could figure it out. “C’mon, we don’t have time. Let’s find our swords.”

  “Uh…y-yeah. It’ll be hard to pick them out of here, though…”

  The Blue Rose Sword and the Black One were in white and black leather scabbards with little ornamentation, and there were a number of similar-looking blades along the walls.

  “…We probably used up too many spatial resources with that light element to use darkness search arts again,” Eugeo lamented, wishing that they’d only cast one light instead of two.

  Then Kirito simply said, “Oh! Found ’em.” He pointed back, just to the left of the doorway they’d just walked through.

  “Whoa…there they are.”

  Indeed, there was a white and black pair of swords in that direction, undeniably the ones belonging to them. Eugeo gazed at his partner in disbelief. “Kirito, how did you know without using sacred arts…?”

  “I figured that if they were the last ones brought here, they’d be closest to the door.” Kirito shrugged. Normally he’d have a proud, childish smirk on his face in this kind of situation, but now he was staring pensively at his sword. Then he exhaled, relaxed, and walked over to grab the black leather scabbard.

  He paused for the briefest of moments, then lifted it off the display holder. He grabbed the Blue Rose Sword with his other hand and tossed it over. Eugeo hastily reached out to catch it and felt a familiar weight on his wrists.

  He’d been separated from his blade for less than two days, but even he was surprised at the sudden surge of sentiment and relief as he clutched the sheath in both hands.

  Ever since they felled the Gigas Cedar in his hometown, the Blue Rose Sword had been at his side. It had helped him through several great challenges, from the tournament in Zakkaria to the entrance duel at Swordcraft Academy, and even when he broke the Taboo Index to cut off Humbert’s arm.

  If the Axiom Church had been stockpiling powerful weapons for years and years, then it was nothing short of miraculous good luck that the Blue Rose Sword had been sleeping undisturbed in that cave for centuries. It was fate—proof that their route to taking Alice back was correct…

  “Don’t just stand there drinking it in; strap it on already,” Kirito chided him. Eugeo came back to his senses and saw that his partner had already fastened his sheath to his sword belt. He smiled awkwardly and did the same, then patted the hilt with satisfaction. The expensive-looking sets of armor had nameplates displayed nearby with impressive names like Armor of a Thousand Thunderbolts and Quake Mountain Plate.

  “…What do you think, Kirito? There are so many, I’m sure we can find some armor that fits us.”

  “No, we’ve never worn armor before. It’s better not to try something you’re not used to. Let’s just take some clothes from over there,” he replied, pointing to the end of the line of armor, where a variety of colorful outfits waited. Eugeo looked down at his own school uniform, which was dirty and torn from two days’ use, the battle against Eldrie, and the frantic escape afterward.

  “You’re right. Pretty soon these will be more tatters than clothes.”

  The two light elements overhead were starting to dim. Eugeo abandoned his hope for armor and pored through the expensive-looking fabrics until he found shirts and pants that seemed the right size for them. They turned their backs for privacy and got to changing.

  Eugeo ran his arms through the ultramarine shirt, which was very similar in tone to his school uniform, and marveled at the smoothness of its texture. He turned around and found that Kirito was reacting in a similar way, running his hands over the black fabric.

  “…I bet these clothes have some kind of special origin, too. Let’s hope they can help stop the Integrity Knights’ attacks.”

  “Don’t get your hopes up too high.” Eugeo chuckled, then got serious. “So…shall we go?”

  “Yeah…let’s do it.”

  They returned to the entrance. Everything so far had been going so easily, it almost felt wrong—but that wouldn’t last long. They shared a moment of knowing determination—ready for anything that might come—as they each took a door handle, Eugeo on the right and Kirito on the left.

  They pulled gently, just barely opening it a crack, when—

  Thak-thak-thak! A number of metal arrows thudded into the outer surface of the thick doors.

  “Whoa!”

  “What the—?”

  The force of the impact knocked the doors farther inward, sending both Eugeo and Kirito tumbling to the floor.

  Standing on the landing at the top of the great staircase on the other side of that rectangular entrance hall was a knight wearing familiar red armor, notching fresh arrows—four at once, in fact—to a longbow as tall as he was. It was the Integrity Knight who had chased them around the rose garden on the drag
on.

  The range between both was about thirty mels. It was way too far for a sword to reach but close enough for a master archer to strike with perfect accuracy. They wouldn’t have time to pull their swords free, much less recover from their fall and scramble to safety behind the walls.

  This is why I wanted the armor! We could have had shields! Eugeo protested to no one but himself, right as the knight began to draw back the string.

  Forget about escaping harm. They had to focus on avoiding a fatal blow, or at least a debilitating one.

  Eugeo stared hard at the line of four arrows. The dull silver tips seemed trained not on their hearts but their legs. As Cardinal suggested, the knights appeared to be ordered to take them alive, not dead. But from their perspective, the two things might as well have been the same.

  The Integrity Knight’s bowstring creaked.

  A moment of silence, in which everything short of time itself stopped.

  Then Kirito’s voice ripped through it: “Burst Element!”

  It was so quick that Eugeo didn’t actually pick up what his partner said at the time. It only clicked for him once he saw the result.

  Instantly, his entire vision went white. Powerful light, like the descent of Solus itself, filled the room. It was a simple spell that released light, one of the elements that made up the building blocks of elemental sacred arts, but Kirito had never actually made the chant to produce the element in the first place. So where did it…?

  Oh. It had been there all along—the light elements they created to illuminate the armory many minutes ago. Ever since, they had been floating around, waiting for the command input that would utilize them. Kirito simply gave that command to the elements overhead, producing a sudden burst of light.

  Between this and the way he threw the shattered piece of glass in the fight against Eldrie, he’s always had a knack for making use of whatever’s nearby, Eugeo thought. He willed strength into his legs and leaped to the right.

  Half a second later, he heard the unpleasant sound of metal arrows gouging stone coming from the spot where he’d just been. He was going to continue moving to the safety of the wall, but then he heard Kirito shout, “Forward!”

  Instantly, he understood the intention and launched himself: not diagonal, but directly forward.

  The light elements had burst behind their heads, meaning that they hadn’t seen the actual source of light directly, but the Integrity Knight most certainly had. They would have a few seconds with an opponent who couldn’t see.

  Light elements were weak in attack power compared to heat or freezing elements, and in fact were more often used in healing magic, but causing a weapon to flash could have blinding or menacing effects. The class at the academy claimed that theoretically, one should counteract the use of light elements in battle with their anti-element, dark.

  As the pinnacle of sword and sacred arts ability, an Integrity Knight would naturally be aware of this basic knowledge, so they couldn’t count on the light-based blindness trick to work twice. This was their first and only chance to close the distance on the ranged fighter.

  Over and over, Kirito had told Eugeo that quick adaptation and smart action formed the core of the Aincrad style. It was the opposite way of thinking from the High-Norkia style, which emphasized grace and stylistic movement. And in order to keep your head about you and apply the teachings of the Aincrad style, it was essential to keep its secret motto in mind: “Stay cool.”

  Eugeo pelted after his partner as best he could, drawing the Blue Rose Sword from his left side as he went. Immediately afterward, the light element was spent, and proper color returned to the world. They were out of the armory and into the antechamber. Twenty steps up the staircase on the other side of the room, they saw the Integrity Knight still standing in place.

  As expected, he continued to appear partially blinded. He had his hand up to the visor of his dark-red helm, his upper half swaying.

  Fortunately for them, unlike Eldrie, this knight did not have a sword at his side. Going into battle indoors with only a longbow was a bold, confident move. He seemed to believe that he could still hit their legs with perfect accuracy as they approached.

  Even with his mind cold and clear, Eugeo couldn’t deny that there was a little flicker of anger in his head.

  Sir Knight, you’re just like Raios—proud, haughty, and perfectly assured of your own righteousness. You believe it makes you impervious. But that will be your undoing. I’m going to make sure you realize that!!

  He charged up the great staircase, propelled by this rather unfamiliar emotion. One step, two steps, and on the third—

  The knight removed his hand from his helmet visor and swung it behind his back, then pulled out more metal bolts from his quiver. All of them at once, in fact.

  When he brought it back around, there were at least thirty arrows clutched in his hand. Before Eugeo could even wonder what he was going to do with that many, the knight arrayed the entire bundle along the length of the horizontal bowstring.

  “Wha…?!”

  Eugeo gasped and halted, right at the third step of the stairs. It couldn’t be possible to shoot thirty arrows from a single bowstring at once and have them fly accurately.

  He heard the sound of creaking metal. A shiver ran down his spine when he realized it was the sound of the arrows steadily giving way under an immense grip. Kirito had stopped to the right of him, unsure of the knight’s true intention. Was it a desperate bluff, or was he really going to—?

  The longbow yanked back all at once, with a louder creaking sound than before.

  “Back and to the left!” Kirito bellowed.

  The air twanged and then snapped as the string finally gave out. But the thirty arrows flew in a radial pattern, a fatal silver sheet raining down on their heads from above.

  Eugeo pushed so hard he thought his leg would break, hurtling himself to the left and holding his sword along the length of his body like a shield.

  If the knight’s vision had been perfect, they would have easily been pumped full of holes. One arrow struck the Blue Rose Sword and clanged away. Another caught the right hem of Eugeo’s trousers, another ripped the skin of his left flank, and yet another grazed his left cheek, taking a few hairs with it.

  Once his shoulder slammed onto the floor, Eugeo looked down, gritting his teeth in preparation for what he would see. After he realized he wasn’t hurt too badly, he glanced over at Kirito, who had gone in the opposite direction.

  “Kirito! You okay?” he shouted. His black-haired partner looked a little shaken as he replied, “Y-yeah, somehow. I think it actually went between my toes.”

  Eugeo saw that there was an arrow in the toe of Kirito’s left shoe, the tip poking through the sole. He exhaled, thankful for his partner’s quick reflexes and fantastic luck.

  “…That was a close one…,” he gasped, forcing himself to his feet.

  Up on the landing, the Integrity Knight seemed at a loss. His quiver was empty, and the string of his bow hung limp and broken. There could be no greater loss for an archer. But this was an Integrity Knight, not someone to underestimate and certainly not one to pity.

  “…Let’s go,” Eugeo murmured, taking a step up.

  But Kirito thrust out a hand to stop him, still holding the arrow he’d pulled from his shoe. “Wait…The knight is casting a sacred art…”

  “Huh?”

  Eugeo paused to listen. Since they were outside of attack range, they needed to respond to any spell with one of the opposite element. He focused on the voice coming through the knight’s metal helmet. The chanting pace was speedy, but thanks to the study they’d done in the library, he could make out the words.

  Yet the art itself was unfamiliar to him. Without hearing the Generate command that would identify the type of element being summoned, there was no way to counteract it effectively.

  “Uh-oh, this is bad,” Kirito moaned. “It’s not an elemental art, it’s Perfect Weapon Control.”

 
No sooner was the statement out of his mouth than the knight finished, clear and crisp, with “Enhance Armament!”

  The two ends of the snapped string suddenly lit up with orange flame, accompanied by the soft sound of their ignition. The fire burned through the string in an instant, and when it reached the ends of the longbow, the copper-colored weapon burst into roiling red flame.

  Even at the bottom of the staircase, Eugeo had to turn his face away from the skin-searing heat. The fire shooting from the bow wreathed the Integrity Knight himself, making it seem like he was aflame.

  This development caught Eugeo by such surprise that he was unsure how to react. Should he assume that even with Perfect Weapon Control, the lack of any arrows was a major loss of power and charge in? Or was using up all his arrows at once a sign that the knight knew he didn’t need any more arrows with his bow in this state?

  Eugeo glanced briefly at his partner to see how he was reacting. Kirito was neither pulling back nor charging forward, but staring wide-eyed with a childlike grin on his lips.

  “This is amazing…I wonder what that bow was made of originally.”

  “Now’s not the time for that!” Eugeo said, resisting the urge to punch his friend’s shoulder. They could choose to use their newly learned Perfect Control to fight back, but their opponent would not wait for them—he would certainly attack before they could complete the long chant. If they were going to use that, they needed to have started it at the same time as he.

  Eugeo prepared himself to react when the enemy struck, but the knight decided to pause, transferring his blazing bow to one hand so he could lift his helmet visor with the other.

  His face was hidden in the shadows cast by the flames, but Eugeo could sense a steely gaze just as sharp as those arrows. The knight’s voice was so hard it scarcely seemed human.

  “It has been two years since I last bathed in the fire of my Conflagration Bow. I can see that you have the skill to match Eldrie Synthesis Thirty-One indeed, sinners. Now your crimes have further deepened. You did not best him in proper combat but misled him with the impure dark arts!”