Agil!
Sorry I didn't get here sooner.
Liz! Silica!
You came! You actually came!
Of course we'd come!
How could we not?
You've been pushing yourself so hard... look how banged up you are.
You're overdoing it, Asuna.
Leave the rest to us. Everyone's here!
Everyone?
Those red guys are the enemy!
Vanguard, charge!
Push them back!
Rearguard, join the Underworld forces for now, and check your spells.
It's not like we have a personal beef with you,
but we're going to make you pay for what you did to our friend.
Three times the amount... no, make it a thousand!
You bastards!
End to Eternity
You might not even make it back, but you still converted your precious characters.
I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
What are you talking about, Asuna?
I believe we all made it through SAO and ALO
so that we could protect what we love right here, right now.
Yeah. You're right.
Thank you.
Hey, Liz, Silica.
Who was it that brought you all here?
Come on, Asuna, who do you think?
It was Yui.
Yui gave us this heartfelt speech about the Underworld and the people who live here.
Thank you, Yui.
Um... Lady Asuna?
Who exactly are these people? And also...
those knights?
They're my precious friends!
They've come from the real world to help us.
Is that right?
I'm so glad!
I thought that everyone from the outside world,
aside from Lady Asuna, would look scary, like those soldiers.
Of course we're not all like that! I'm Lisbeth! Nice to meet you, Mr. Knight!
I'm Silica! It's very nice to meet you!
Right, nice to meet you! My name is Renly.
Liz, how many people converted in all?
Um, maybe a little over two thousand, I think?
I did my best, but I couldn't convince every single player who heard me out.
That's more than enough!
But to keep reconverting a possibility, I'd like to avoid a war of attrition.
Let's not expand the front lines too much, and bolster our healing.
Liz and Silica, I want you to fall back with 200 or so and form a support unit.
Understood!
Okay! You can count on us!
I know this isn't what you want to hear, but please join the monks and use your healing arts.
Since the real world swordsmen aren't familiar with the sacred arts,
it would really help if you could teach them the formal arts.
Uh, right, Lady Asuna!
I...
will fight at the front!
Now we won't lose.
Now that everyone's here.
It's all right. We can win!
All together...
we can definitely win!
Tuesday, July 7, 2026 7:18 AM Ocean Turtle
You think that was in time?
It was in time.
Definitely.
Seriously, I can't believe I was so careless.
Who knew that they'd have American VRMMO players dive into the Underworld?
Not only that, but it was an existing AI connected to Asuna's cell phone that detected it.
Even if there was no other way,
letting those players in has made some information on the Project Alicization public.
Compared to Alice falling into enemy hands,
and being used as a passive AI on an unmanned weapon, this is way better.
That's right, Alice isn't just a control AI for UAVs anymore.
She's a new form of humanity born in a true alternate world.
You realized that long ago.
Isn't that right, Kirito?
H-Hey, Rinko! Could you take a look at this?
What are these fluctuations?
It means his lost consciousness showed activity for just a moment.
But there's no way that could happen.
Wait a moment.
Aren't both of these times when the girls used the STL to dive?
What does this mean?
Is it just that he had a strong reaction because someone close to him showed up?
No, the damage Kirito sustained isn't something that could be repaired for such a poetic reason.
Something has to be causing this.
The self. The subject.
The image that defines you as you.
Could there be a backup of that quantum pattern somewhere?
No, that's impossible. We never once duplicated Kirito's Fluctlight.
Hey.
Even if there was a backup, it would be impossible to extract the self-image and copy it over.
Hey, Higa.
Is there an active quantum pattern that can be connected to his Fluctlight?
Where? Where is it?
Higa, listen!
What is it?
Higa, you keep mentioning the subject and the object,
but can you really separate them that easily?
Aren't the subject and the object just philosophical concepts for expressing relationships?
But humans are social creatures. It's not as if we exist as solitary beings.
The others who exist in you. The you that exists in others.
Up to a point, they're all connected, like a network.
Wouldn't you agree?
The you... who exists... in others.
Right!
A backup self-image.
We have it. We have it!
We have data we can use to restore Kirito's shattered subject!
It's inside the Fluctlights of the people closest to him!
But to extract that data, we'll need an STL.
And we couldn't reproduce it effectively with just one person.
We'd need at least two... no, three people.
Mr. Kiku, the girls diving from Roppongi are connected to Kirito, right?
Yeah, that's right.
Sinon teamed up with Kirito to resolve the Death Gun Incident six months ago.
And Leafa is Kirito's younger sister.
We can do it! We might be able to restore it, then!
Kirito's self-image, that is!
If we can extract the image of Kirito saved onto their Fluctlights,
and connect it to the areas he's lost...
That should do it!
You're kidding me!
The only place we can do all that is the Main Control Room!
Don't be so disappointed, Higa. It's good knowing that there's hope for Kirito.
We can launch the actual operation after all this is resolved,
and those people have been driven off the Ocean Turtle.
But by then it'll be too late!
If the commando unit from the naval escort Asahi storms in,
and a huge battle ensues in the Main Shaft, the sub-power would probably get knocked out, too.
If that were to happen,
Kirito would be forcibly logged out of the Underworld while still unconscious.
And then most likely, Kirito wouldn't make it past the initialization stage to log in,
and he'll never be able to connect to the STL again.
That's why, no matter what,
we have to treat him while he and those three girls are still diving in the Underworld.
I'm going, okay, Mr. Kiku?
Going... where?
STL Room Two, where Kirito is now, and Maincon below the pressure bulkhead
are connected by a cable duct on the stern side of the Main Shaft.
There should be a maintenance connector in there.
I should be able to control Kirito's STL from there.
But the maintenance connector is on the other side of the pressure bulkhead.
If they notice you, you could get attacked from below.
So let's go with a decoy operation.
Decoy, did you say?
Of course, we wouldn't send in valuable human resources.
Once we unlock the pressure bulkhead door,
we'll have it charge down the stairs for humans on the other side of the duct.
That.
I see.
You mean Ichiemon.
Hold on! All that one can do now is slowly go up and down stairs.
It can't possibly rush back here if the enemy spots it!
I do feel bad for Ichiemon, but he's just going to have to do his best.
But given the way he looks, the enemy might not open fire on him.
Well, that's true, he's sure to stick out like a sore thumb,
so we can probably convince them that we have an epic plan up our sleeves.
At the very least, they won't be able to ignore him!
So while the enemy's dealing with Ichiemon,
I'll infiltrate the lower cable duct,
and operate Kirito's STL through the maintenance connector.
While we're at it...
do you think we could deploy Niemon, too?
Unfortunately, that's not possible.
Like I said before, without a balancer,
Niemon will only fall over as soon as he starts descending the stairs.
I see.
But Higa, even if you did fool them long enough to unlock the bulkhead,
there'd still be some risk of you being spotted.
Shouldn't you take a bodyguard with you?
No. As it stands now, we can't spare any of the JSDF staff.
Besides, the only one who can easily move through that cramped duct... is scrawny little me!
I'm going to zip over, and zip right back, okay?
If it weren't for Kirito, Alice's Fluctlight wouldn't have become what it is now.
That alone is such a great achievement,
but while trying to protect Alice...
That's why, if there's a chance we can treat him, we have to take any risk.
Or we won't be able to look him in the eye, am I right?
Um...
I'll go with you, Chief Higa.
As you can see, I'm scrawny, too, but I think I can at least take a bullet for you.
And besides, I'm the one who's been maintaining those cables till now.
To be honest, I don't really remember where that maintenance connector is.
So thanks for coming along...
Mr. Yanai.
I've grown tired of this.
Your soul is so heavy.
It's too thick. And tedious, as well.
The only thing on your mind is killing me.
Begone.
Don't be like that.
I've still got enough left to enjoy this!
Just a little longer.
Where are you?
Where did you go?
Is that it?
Huh?
Or was it this way?
Thirty seconds more.
There.
Found it.
579... 580... 581... 582!
You're up to something, aren't you?
So I missed, huh?
Forgive me, little Asuna... Alice.
Hey, now... didn't I tell you to stand by?
You've never once disobeyed my orders.
Hoshigami, this moment you've created for me won't go to waste!
The Time-Splitting Sword Uragiri is "the sword that slashes time."
I just slashed your past.
So warm.
Father.
Uncle?
That's right, I was captured by the emperor's flying dragon, and...
U-Uncle? Lord Bercouli?
Uncle!
It can't be...
No!
Hey, now. Don't sob like that, little one.
My time was always going to come, and now it has, that's all.
Right?
You'll be fine, little one. You can make it on your own now.
After all, you're my only apprentice, as well as my daughter.
Hey, not a bad way to go, huh?
That's right.
You have so many people who will cry for you. Consider yourself blessed.
What, you were alive all along?
Of course not! This is the me that exists in your memory.
The memories of Administrator you've kept inside your soul.
I'm not sure I get it.
Still, I'm glad that in my memories, you're able to smile like that.
Don't you resent me at all?
When I'm the one who locked you in a prison of never-ending time,
and robbed you of your memories over and over?
I admit it went on so long it got old,
but it was a hell of an interesting life.
I mean it.
Is that so?
Forgive me, Fanatio.
It looks like we won't be seeing each other again.
I'll leave the rest to you.
To give our child a happy life.
My lord!
Have no fear, Lord Bercouli.
I will raise this child to be proper.
To become a gallant, proud human like you.
Well done, Captain.
Well, you got your butt kicked though, huh?
What's the status?
Like you ordered, I sent in those 50,000 players we scraped up from all over America.
That bastard Vassago died and came back once,
but then he got super excited, converted his personal account, and dove back in.
Oh? I see...
I see.
All right, I'm diving in again. Convert this account to the Underworld.
Next time: Instigation.
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