"Miss Rinko, how are the preparations coming along?"
Satoru watched Rinko Koujiro work through the pile of miscellaneous equipment. As always, she had her white lab coat on. She was a beautiful woman who could have looked radiant with the slightest effort, but she seemed not to care about such things. Bent over the equipment, adjusting it, Rinko looked unusually flustered.
"I really didn't expect you to get your hands on all this... It can't have been cheap."
"A selfless gift from an enthusiastic entrepreneur," Satoru said with a smile. He watched Rinko hunch over the tangled mass of data cables. "I'll help too."
"Then please untangle this mess of wires for me," Rinko said. "But where exactly did you find such a selfless entrepreneur?"
"There are good people in this world who reach out when they see someone in trouble," Satoru said half-jokingly, then walked over and began sorting through the cables.
Rinko glanced sideways at him.
"Fine. I suppose I shouldn't pry... But in only a few days, you have already prepared everything this thoroughly. It must have been rough."
"It was all right," Satoru said without looking up. "What about you, Miss Rinko?"
"With this equipment ready, there should be no problem on my end either."
The two of them worked together for more than ten minutes before they finally connected all the equipment. Satoru clapped his hands clean and watched as Rinko sat in front of the machine and began performing operations he could not understand at all. Lines of English and numbers flashed constantly across the screen, in what looked to him like no pattern whatsoever.
"Will this work? I can't tell at all," he could not help asking.
"Yes. It is running very smoothly. Next, once we connect your FullDive helmet, I will be able to see what you see. I can also support you by voice from here," Rinko said as she tested the machine.
"What I see...?" Satoru murmured for a moment. "It may be somewhat blurry."
"I have already read the files Kayaba left behind about Fluctlights. I also ported over the program he used to monitor you during SAO, so it should be able to track your condition properly. At the same time, I will be breaking into the ALO servers. Once the Impact Program activates, we should be able to force our way deeper in."
"So everything is ready?"
"Yes."
Rinko nodded.
"Then I will go over there for a while." Satoru nodded back, then took off his outerwear and walked toward his small bed. He picked up the old NerveGear and put it on his head. "There is still some coffee and alcohol in the fridge. Help yourself, Miss Rinko."
"Satoru-kun, good luck," Rinko said softly, watching him lie flat on the bed.
"You too. I hope this battle gives both of us what we want." Satoru smiled faintly.
"Link Start."
...
"You're here. Everyone was waiting for you."
Souji Yae looked at the Salamander who appeared with a burst of flame.
"You didn't need to wait for me on purpose. You could have moved out first." Satoru took a deep breath and stretched his body, then looked at the World Tree towering into the clouds not far ahead. Behind him, rows of Salamanders stood in perfect formation. Every one of them was fully armed and ready, and there were even cavalrymen mounted on red dragons.
"You're the one who started this, so take it a little seriously."
"You're the operations commander." Satoru looked around, only to find that Kirito was the only one there. "Where are the boss and the others?"
"Not here. They're waiting for news in the rear. What else? We're marching out in the open to attack the World Tree, so the other races have gotten word of it too. They are probably dealing with the fallout over there," Souji said.
"They really know how to leave things in our hands." Satoru scratched his head.
"Heh. You think we can't win?" Souji raised an eyebrow.
"Not at all." Satoru patted him on the shoulder, then walked over to Kirito. "How about it? Are you ready?"
"I was ready the moment I entered this game. But how should I put this... I fought my way here half-dead, and you somehow organized a whole army without breaking a sweat. Suddenly I feel exhausted." Kirito's expression sagged.
"I heard you were originally planning to cooperate with the Sylphs?"
"Yeah... And now I have suddenly switched sides. How am I supposed to explain this to Leafa?" Kirito looked deeply troubled.
"Oh, another flower you accidentally charmed?"
"No! She's a partner!"
"Tch..." Satoru turned his face away in contempt. "Whatever. I am not getting involved. Just make sure you go all out once the fighting starts. This game may not have a Dual Blades skill, but it does not forbid wielding two weapons. Show them everything you can do."
"Of course I will." Kirito nodded firmly.
"Hey, come here." Souji beckoned to Satoru. "The boss grabbed this for you. I don't know why, but your One-Handed Sword proficiency is 950, right?"
"What about it?" Satoru asked.
"Then you meet the requirement to use this weapon. Here, take it." Souji swiped through his inventory, and a dark purple longsword hummed into existence in his hand.
"Gram?" Kirito froze at the sight of the sword. "Isn't that Eugene's Demonic Sword? An ultra-rare weapon second only to the Holy Sword Excalibur."
"Yeah. The boss went out of his way to take it from his little brother for you. It almost made the brothers fall out with each other. I still don't really understand why a one-eighty-meter little brother would cling to his one-seventy-meter older brother and wail, 'Why?! Didn't you give that to me back then?! Why are you taking it away from me now, and giving it to another man?!' and all that." Souji looked completely baffled.
"..."
With complicated feelings, Satoru accepted the Demonic Sword and gave it a token swing.
It still did not feel as good as Cantusa or Sakura Fang, but since it was a demonic sword too, it was trustworthy enough.
"Still, a slightly slimmer long blade or a lighter sword really does fit my hand better."
"Then just have one forged later when there is time," Souji said with a shrug.
"Forget it. I don't even know if I will keep playing games after this." Satoru looked toward the World Tree ahead. "That depends on what happens thirty minutes from now."
Souji said nothing more. Instead, he raised his left hand, clenched into a fist. It was a silent signal, yet it felt like a signal flare igniting. Behind him, the quiet Salamander army raised their heads all at once. The crisp, unified sound of drawn blades rang through the air, and the Salamanders on dragonback pulled their chains taut.
The dragons' tightly closed eyes opened as well.
"Begin the World Tree raid. Everyone, close world, public, race, and guild channels. Leave only raid and party channels open. Five to a party, three parties to a squad, three squads to a regiment. The Dragon Cavalry will be organized as two additional regiments, with ten riders per cavalry team. One minute. Everyone, adjust your positions."
Souji Yae spoke calmly.
Behind him, great swaths of Salamanders lowered their heads at the same time and pulled up their menus with clear chimes. As they formed parties with one another, the crowd also shifted positions in cool order.
"...That really is surprising." Kirito watched the orderly Salamanders, unable to hide his amazement.
"You thought that because this isn't a death game, the battle plan wouldn't be so strict?" Satoru asked after hearing him.
Kirito nodded.
In the end, this was still a free entertainment game with no lives at stake. Without the pressure of death, organizations united from top to bottom like the Knights of the Blood should have been rare. That was especially true because the Knights of the Blood had been planned and led by Kayaba, a scholar so calm it was almost frightening.
The ranks of Salamanders behind him gave him the illusion that he was still in Aincrad, preparing to march into a floor boss room. Their pre-battle momentum had gathered to an unprecedented degree, heavy with pressure.
"We fought with our spirits sharpened by the threat of death. As for them... this is simply professionalism and seriousness. They are not playing a game. They are clocking in to work," Satoru said. "Also, speaking of leaders, that man is naturally awe-inspiring, but when it comes to marching and fighting in virtual worlds, the person beside you is a general who never loses."
A party invitation appeared in front of both of them at the same time.
"You two will party with me and be folded into the legion," Souji said from the side. Kirito was not sure if it was his imagination, but at that moment the plain-looking player beside him suddenly seemed forceful.
"It has been a while since I took orders from you," Satoru said with a smile.
"Spare me."
He and Souji bumped fists in practiced understanding.
"If this might be the last time you and I fight side by side... then let's not leave any regrets."
Souji took the first step toward the World Tree. His left hand rose again, and he waved forward with casual lightness.
Behind him, a single regiment of Salamanders advanced with the momentum of thousands.
...
BOOM-!!
Explosions shook out from every direction as a crimson torrent surged upward and collided with the host of white knights in the daylight.
"Dragon Cavalry, hold at the rear for now. First and Second Regiments, move up and make first contact with the Guardian Knights." A message appeared in the empty message list. From that moment on, only the ID Shadow Song would speak there, and his orders would pass through the entire legion in an instant.
There was no need for a morale-raising roar. The Salamanders of the two regiments charged silently and fiercely straight into the knight formation.
Thunderous sparks burst where crimson and white met.
One second. In only one second, more than a dozen portraits from the First and Second Regiments went gray in the legion list floating at the right edge of Souji Yae's vision. He hovered not far above the ground, glanced once, and made his next decision.
"Losses are within estimates. Do not worry about them. Push forward. Use your lives to open as much of a path as possible."
The order was ruthless and decisive, and the crimson army carried it out as if it were his own arm. Amid the exploding flames, the number of grayed-out portraits surged.
"Third Regiment, prepare to take over the work of the First and Second. Fourth Regiment and Dragon Cavalry, follow behind them. Watch your losses."
Wings beat. The Dragon Cavalry, still on the ground, began to ascend.
Satoru and the others followed close behind. Above them, the Guardian Knights' defensive line was collapsing in an instant under the Salamanders' suicidal assault. They advanced toward the top of the dome with almost no obstruction, while fragments of White Knights and the afterflames of fallen Salamanders rained down around them.
Kirito watched his allies constantly die together with the White Knights and could not help speaking up.
"There is no need to go this far, is there...? If we advanced steadily, we wouldn't have to lose so many people."
"This is the most efficient method."
"This is the most efficient method."
Satoru and Souji Yae gave the exact same answer at almost the exact same time.
"..."
Kirito could only shut his mouth and stare wide-eyed at the bursts of fire mist above, each one a mutual kill. It was strange. Even though he knew the dead could respawn, the feeling of advancing over his teammates' corpses made him feel as if he were still in SAO. What was even more frightening was that no one objected.
That included the vanguard at the front. They rushed forward, swung their swords, blocked attacks, countered, and then dragged a White Knight down with them. Some even used self-destruct skills without hesitation, caring nothing for the stat penalties those skills brought.
They faithfully carried out orders and duties like mechanical gears, without even a roar or two.
This is not just a question of being professional, is it...? Kirito thought with complicated feelings.
"First and Second Regiments are almost spent. Third Regiment, move up. Note: fight seriously this time. Dragon Cavalry remains on standby."
BOOM, BOOM-!!
Although he never mentioned the survivors of the First and Second Regiments, those players seemed to understand him perfectly. They charged forward and used their high-cost self-destruct skills as a group, blasting an empty space straight into the dense ranks of White Knights. Less than three minutes had passed, and every Salamander player from the First and Second Regiments had fallen.
But they had already covered two-thirds of the distance.
"Now it is your turn. The two spearheads can come out." Souji Yae turned and spoke to them.
"Got it." Kirito seemed to have been holding something in all this time. He took a deep breath, snapped open the wings on his back, and turned into a dim black shadow that stabbed forward. He passed directly over the advancing Third Regiment and plunged alone into the endless ranks of White Knights.
In an instant, there was a flash of gale wind. In an instant, blades flashed and shadows crossed. The White Knights on both sides of his charged path were cut down.
"Ho." Souji watched him, a little surprised.
"Miss Rinko," Satoru said into empty air.
"I can hear you clearly, and the signal is coming through smoothly. The Fluctlight monitoring program is linked to your side as well." An intelligent female voice sounded in his ear as if from nowhere.
"Then I will leave it to you."
Satoru burst forward too.
His golden eyes flashed.
He did not rise in a straight line. Instead, he shot upward along a jagged path that could only be described as lightning-fast. He pierced through every White Knight blocking him, and in only a few seconds he had even surpassed Kirito's position. Behind him, the bent, lightning-shaped route had been left completely empty. He had carved a section out of the White Knights by force.
Satoru held the Demonic Sword level and looked at the two White Knights impaled on its blade. He wrenched it free and let the two powerless bodies fall, while his eyes twisted rapidly in every direction to catch the enemy situation around him.
Kill-!
The Demonic Sword slashed out at divine speed, bending in an arc that looked as if it might snap. Carrying strange afterimages behind him, he charged and killed his way toward the top of the sky.
In Satoru's room, Rinko stared in astonishment at the image flickering madly across one screen. Even with her eyesight, she could not properly understand one frame before it instantly spun and switched to the next. After watching for only a dozen seconds, her eyes began to swim. It was like the most shameless, awful director had put together a montage that cared nothing for rhythm and only for speed.
She turned and tapped the keyboard. What the other screen displayed was far easier to understand.
The ripples representing this young man's thought waves were vibrating as if they were putting on a heavy metal concert.
She could not help looking at the person lying motionless on the bed, as if fast asleep.
"Can a human... really endure this kind of acceleration?"
she murmured to herself.
Souji Yae stared with wide eyes as Satoru went full Musou above him, and could not help cursing.
"Holy shit, where did that bastard get cheats or assist plugins? How is he that cracked? That acceleration multiplier is shameless! I thought you were still relying on mind games and skill like before! You fucking bastard!"