His full-body black armor had innumerable scratches on it, but still shone with a blurred glow. On the bowed face, there were visible light scars on his forehead and the bridge of his nose as well.
Without lifting his face up, a slightly rough baritone came out of the bowed man’s mouth.
“Dark Knight Commander Biksul Ul Shasta. Before devoting my sword… I wish to ask Your Majesty.”
The face that suddenly rose shared the same serious qualities as the few [real soldiers] that Gabriel had seen.
Especially, behind those sharp eyes, there was a certain kind of determination that was completely missing from the other nine generals. The Knight called Shasta stared at Gabriel with a gaze that looked almost piercing, and continued in a low voice:
“What, is Your Majesty looking forward to, returning to the Throne at this moment?”
As expected — These men are not simple programs.
I must remind myself of this constantly, Gabriel thought, and with the mask of a [Merciless Emperor], produced an ice-cold response:
“Blood and terror. Flames and destruction. Death and screaming.”
Gabriel’s hard voice that resembled sliced metal resounded in the hall; the expressions of all ten generals tightened immediately.
Looking one by one at the ten faces, Gabriel flipped his robe, raised his right hand and pointed at the western sky.
From within his mouth, lines filled with false desire for conquest automatically erupted:
“…Of the western land loaded with the powers of the gods who exiled me from the heavens, the protective «Great Gate» will now fall. I have returned… To proclaim my power to all!”
From Critter, he had learned the most he could about the «Final Load Test» that was about to commence after a week in internal time. Gabriel added the information to his tirade, continuing in a dramatic tone:
“When the Gate falls, the Human World shall fall into the hands of my subjects, the People of Darkness! All I desire is the «Holy Maiden» that shall appear in that land by then! I shall grant you all the right to do with all other Humans as you wish! The promised time that all People of Darkness awaited — has arrived!!”
The air that had become silent once again—
Was shattered by shrill, savage screams.
“Giiii!! Kiilll!! Kill those white Iiiuuums!!”
The one stamping its feet and screaming was the Orc leader, its eyes rolling with anger and desire. Immediately, two Goblins raised their arms and followed suit.
“Hooooou!! War!! War!!”
“Urra——!! War, war——!!”
The battle cry instantly spread to other generals and the officers behind them. The black robes among the Assassin Guild billowed along with bodies as thin as twigs; the Witches among the Dark Sorcerer Guild released colorful sparks with flirtatious shrieks.
In the entire wide hall that was filled with primal howls—
Gabriel noticed that only the Knight called Shasta maintained his kneeling position, without a sliver of movement.
Was it due to a soldier’s self-control, or was it due to certain inner thoughts? It was indiscernible from the statue-like armor.
***
“I didn’t expect bro to have that kind of talent! Ain’t it better for you to become an actor?!”
Gabriel snorted at Vassago’s wretched grin, who threw a bottle of wine to Gabriel.
“Only when necessary. It’d be better for you to remember the speaking techniques just now. Since your rank is higher than theirs.”
He popped the cork of the bottle with his finger; holding some of the ruby-colored liquid in his mouth, he wondered whether he should drink during a mission.
Vassago crudely drank the vintage wine as though it was beer; he belched and replied as he wiped his mouth:
“Compared with orders or playing the part or whatever, I just wanna kill on the front line. You don’t Dive into this powerful VR everyday… This wine, this bottle, everything looks real to me.”
“Comparatively, it’s going to hurt and bleed if you’re cut. The Pain Absorber doesn’t work in here.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
Vassago smirked and shrugged. Gabriel set his bottle down on the table and stood up from the sofa.
The top floor of Obsidia was the Emperor’s private room. It was not inferior at all compared to the lavish decor in the office of GlowGen DS headquarters, and in addition, the faraway night scenery was visible from an enormous window. Although not as bright and colorful as that of San Diego, it had a different, fantasy look.
The ten generals with the statuses of Feudal Lords left the castle to prepare for battle, and torchlights danced non-stop, belonging to the porters moving resources from the storage rooms.
The Head of the Commerce and Industry Guild, who had the role of replenishing supplies, had been ordered to deplete all stored stocks of food and equipment in the city, so the soldiers should not suffer from cold or hunger.
Turning his eyes away from the countless lights, Gabriel walked to a corner of the room, touching the purple crystal plate that was set there — a system console.
He rapidly manipulated the menu and pressed the button to call an external observer. The time acceleration ratio decreased, and with a strange feeling of going back to 1:1, he heard Critter’s quick-mouthed voice:
“Captain?! I literally just came back to the control room after watching you Dive in!!”
“It’s already the first night here. Although I understand it, time acceleration is quite fascinating. Anyway, everything is proceeding as planned. The preparation of the Units will be finished in one or two days, and in two days, an attack against the Human Empire is planned.”
“Great. Remember, after securing «Alice», please bring her there and use the menu to eject her into the Main Control Room, then «Alice»’s Light Cube will be ours. Also, please tell that idiot Vassago what I said.”
As though he had heard Critter, Vassago’s short curse came from behind.
“I can’t operate with administrator privileges right now, so reconfiguring account data is impossible. In other words, Captain, if you or Vassago [die] in that world, you can no longer use that super account. You’ll only be able to start over with a small soldier!”
“Yeah… I know. I won’t go to the front lines for now. Any movement from the JSDF?”
“None right now. It seems like they haven’t noticed you guys Diving in yet.”
“Good. Then, I’ll cut the connection now. The next time I contact you, it’ll be when we’re preparing to leave after securing Alice.”
“Understood, good luck.”
He closed the communication window, and with a slight sense of incongruity, the world returned to the accelerated ratio.
Vassago was still aside, muttering and cursing while wrestling with a buckle on his armor, and finally threw off all of his outerwear; he stood up in just a leather shirt and pants.
“Hey, bro. Why not go have some fun in the city… We can’t, can we?”
“Just resist the temptation for now. After getting the target, I’ll give you a night.”
“Understood. So, no killing no women for today… Then I’ll head off to bed like a good boy. The room over there is mine.”
His joints creaking as he stretched, Vassago disappeared into a neighboring bedroom, and Gabriel took off his crown, exhaling.
He put his gown and robe on the sofa, and threw his sword on top.
In VR games he had played before, the equipment he took off would return to the item storage, but it seems like there were no such conveniences in this world. After a month of living in this room, it would become extremely messy, but he would be leaving the castle the day after tomorrow, and the next time he came back it would be time to log out.
As he unbuttoned his shirt and opened the door across from Vassago’s room, Gabriel’s eyes narrowed in surprise.
In the frighteningly large bedroom, besides the colossal luxury bed
— there was a small silhouette, kneeled on the ground.
He should have already ordered everyone, including the servants, not to enter the floor above the Throne Room. There was actually someone who would defy the order of a god; what on earth was this?
For a split-second he wanted to go back and get his sword, but Gabriel entered the bedroom anyway, and closed the door.
“…Who is it?”
He called shortly.
The answer was a slightly hoarse voice.
“…Please allow me to serve as your sleeping partner [3] tonight.”
“Huh?”
Furrowing his brow in surprise, Gabriel slowly walked to the bed in the dark bedroom.
The one with both hands on the ground actually was a young woman in thin clothes. Her ash-blue hair was tied high with a decorative ribbon. From the slightly visible lines, he could not see signs of any weapons.
He sat down on the vibrantly colored silk sheets and inquired:
“Whose order was this?”
After a slight pause, the woman replied in a thin voice:
“Nobody… This is only my duty.”
“Is that so?”
Gabriel turned away his eyes and fell back in the center of the bed.
Seconds later, the woman straightened her upper body and glided onto his right side without a sound.
“Please excuse me…”
Even Gabriel could not help but marvel at the beauty of the exotic-looking lady whispering to him. Her skin tone was slightly dark, but the area around her cheekbones revealed a noble temperament of someone from somewhere in Northern Europe.
Watching the woman softly undo her thin clothing and prepare to loosen her decorative hair tie, Gabriel experienced a certain moving.
Would an artificial Fluctlight actually do something like this?
Even this lady is still not an incomplete AI? If so, to what extent of completion would the finished Alice have achieved?
What moved Gabriel, were not the actions of the woman devoting her body.
It was not like that—
She quickly pulled a small, sharp knife out of her hair and raised it high as Gabriel predicted.
Gabriel grabbed the woman’s hand with ease and his other hand flashed, snatching the woman’s throat and pushing her down onto the bed.
“Kuh…!!”
The woman clenched her teeth tightly and fought back with all her might, attempting to thrust the small knife. Her wrist strength was greater than expected, but not enough to make Gabriel nervous. He twisted the woman’s arm all the way back, and lightly pressed his thumb into her windpipe, restricting her movements.
Although the woman’s face contorted in excruciating pain, the determination flashing in her gray eyes did not weaken in the slightest. From her fierce expression just now, her incomplete makeup and toned body, she was definitely not a professional Assassin. This meant the one with rebellious thoughts was not the leader of the Assassins, Fer Za, but one of the other nine generals — most likely within the Human generals.
Edging his face slightly closer, Gabriel repeated the same question he had asked before.
“Whose order is this?”
She replied with the same tone.
“It is my own… will.”
“Then, to whom do you report?”
“…Nobody.”
“Hmph.”
Gabriel thought as a machine without any sliver of emotion.
«RATH» wanted to break the boundaries of an artificial Fluctlight, which was their nature to be unable to disobey all rules, laws, and orders from people of a higher priority.
Compared to the Human World Fluctlights bound by countless laws, the inhabitants of the Dark Territory seemed able to live more freely, but their nature had not changed. It was only because there was but one rule for the Fluctlights here that they felt free on the surface.
That rule was [power dominates all]. This was a dog-eat-dog world in which people with higher power could dominate those under them. If RATH’s experiment proceeded as they had planned, the orderly Human World and the chaotic Land of Darkness would clash violently even without Gabriel’s intervention, and would end in a breakthrough by war.
But he did not know why, before the plan had proceeded into that stage, there came a Fluctlight in the Human World that had exceeded the boundaries. The spy within RATH had not sent any information regarding a similar existence in the Land of Darkness.
In other words, this woman who had plotted to kill the Emperor with a small knife was also a soul bound by absolute law. Even so, from the situation that even under Gabriel’s questioning just now, no, under his order, she did not divulge the identity of her master. It proves that this woman, even under the order of Gabriel, an Emperor who was also a god, she prioritized her loyalty to her master. That is, she thought her master [stronger] than the Emperor.
In that case, to ensure that the battle goes smoothly, it was necessary to properly display his strength to the general and officer Units, to show them that Gabriel — Emperor Vector was the strongest in this world. But, he couldn’t completely destroy the valuable general Units. What should he do—
No.
He had to dispose of one of the generals anyway. A certain person who put the murderous spirit in this woman.
How should he single out the traitor? Should he contact Critter again, to have him supervise the general Units from outside? No, that would require adjusting the time acceleration ratio back to 1:1, and would waste precious time in the real world.
Then—
Considering this matter in an instant, Gabriel scrutinized the woman’s iron-colored eyes again.
“What is your reason for killing me? Were you offered money? Or status?”
He did not need to think about his questions. But the answer he immediately heard was unexpected.
“For righteousness!”
“Oh…?”
“If you wage war now, the world will fall back a hundred years, no, two hundred years! I cannot let you return the era to when the weak were trampled upon!!”
Again, Gabriel felt a sliver of shock.
Was this woman really in the stage before her boundaries were broken? If so, did her master make her say these lines?
Gabriel brought his head closer, gazing straight into those gray eyes.
Determination. Loyalty. The feeling deep within was…
Ah, so it’s like that.
If that was the case, then there was no more need for this woman. To be precise, there was no more need for this woman’s Fluctlight.
Gabriel complied with his own decision, and without another word, applied force to his left hand, which grasped the woman’s throat.
He felt bones being crushed. The woman’s eyes widened, and her mouth let out a silent scream.
SAO 15 - Alicization Invading Page 16