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She pulled on the chain with all her strength while shouting out in a voice filled with anger.
Soaring through the air like Alice did earlier, I had the air knocked out of me the moment my back crashed into the marble wall, but nothing felt more reliable than this terrace I groveled upon now. I wanted to throw myself down on this nostalgic horizontal surface forever, but Alice kicked my flank and I reluctantly lifted my body.
"Wha... what were you thinking, you great fool!!"
"It"s not like I could help it, I could only... no, leave the talking for later, they"re coming!"
I drew my sword again and pointed its end at the three gargoyles in their sharp ascent.
Making use of the meager time before launching into battle to check the surrounding terrain, I briefly swept my sight left and right.
The terrace we clambered onto through a circus-like stunt had a width of roughly one meter. It lacked decorative features, being nothing more than a simple marble platform jutting out vertical y from the tower"s outer walls. No, it probably wasn"t anything more or less than a shelf. It was something solely meant for the practical use of setting the gargoyles on it.
Alice didn"t know about the existence of this terrace, so I held a minor hope that a door or window might be set in the outer
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wall behind us, but unfortunately, there wasn"t a single opening.
All I could see was the view of the silhouettes of the monstrosities yet to come alive lined up in a row until the far- away corner. Knowledge of their numbers from the repeated affirmation inspired fear, but fortunately, the only ones moving seemed to be the three that could be seen flying high.
Perhaps she finally got a hold of herself after securing a reliable foothold, but Alice, too, slipped her Fragrant Olive Sword out from its scabbard with a "shing". However, the doubts in her heart apparently hadn"t been resolved yet as a hoa.r.s.e murmur reached my ears.
"...There is no mistaking it... Why... would they be in..."
The gargoyles that ascended to the same alt.i.tude as the terrace might have been wary towards the two brandished swords, as they showed no sign of swooping in immediately.
While gazing at the monsters, lazily swaying in midair, I asked Alice a question.
"Something"s been bothering me since earlier. You know about those monsters?"
"...Yes, I do."
Surprisingly enough, Alice immediately replied in the affirmative.
"Those are made by the darkness arts magicians of the Dark Territory, the wicked demons they employ. Fol owing their
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example, we call them " minions". I believe that is Sacred Tongue for "underlings" or "subordinates"."
"Minions... I can agree that they"re from the Dark Territory, judging from their appearance, but why would something like those be lined up along the entire wall of the most sacred place in the Human World?"
"That is what I would like to know!"
Screaming that as though she was wringing the words out, Alice tightly bit on her lips.
"...I understand this would never happen without you tel ing me. I can hardly imagine that minions could slip through the integrity knights" observation and cross the mountain range at the edge, trespa.s.sing all the way to the capital... and to such a high location on the Central Cathedral too. Let alone..."
"Let alone someone of high authority in the church intentionally setting them here... an act that would be definitely impossible...?"
Alice scowled at me, half-consciously filling in the words cut short, but made no attempt to rebut. Returning my sight to the three gargoyles, the minions, who were still hovering, I questioned once again.
"Tel me one more thing. Do those minions possess intelligence? Do they talk like humans?"
Alice, who returned her sight to the front as wel , appeared to have shaken her head quickly.
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"That would be truly impossible. Unlike the goblins and orcs living in the land of darkness, the minions are not alive. They are soulless familiars created from lumps of earth by the magicians serving the G.o.d of darkness, Vector... they only understand some simple orders from their masters."
"...I see."
I hid a soft, relieved breath from Alice.
I was wel enough aware that this was nothing more than postponing the problem at hand, but I stil feel a strong hesitation against killing existences possessing the same fluctlights as humans, even now.
Babies in this world are born between only male-female couples who became married with recognition from the Axiom Church-a system command exclusive for that likely exists-or so the recluse, Cardinal, had said. Those who dwel in the Dark Territory were no exception. In that case, minions created by the not-sacred-arts darkness arts would not possess fluctlights, but programmed code like wild animals.
Looking at it from that perspective, the hostility emitting from the minions" insect-like simple eyes had the distinct digital stench common to the mobs of monsters I fought back in SAO.
Their status might have switched from "watch on" to "attack", as the three beat their wings strongly simultaneously and soared up high.
"-They"re coming!"
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I shouted and brandished my beloved sword once again. The one who flew in straight away was the one with a golden piton still stabbed into its abdomen, perhaps due to the hate earned earlier.
This time, the claws on its two arms made a consecutive a.s.sault instead of its tail. It couldn"t be said to be fast, but I had difficulty getting the right timing, being in a fight against monsters for the first time in a while. Devoting myself to repelling the claws with my sword, I awaited an opportunity, then saw a fleeting image of the unhurt pair rapidly descending onto Alice on my left in a corner of my vision.
"Pay attention, there"re two of them!"
Despite my warning, made in genuine worry for the female knight, the voice that came back was utterly indifferent.
"Who exactly do you think I am?"
Nimbly lowering her waist, she brandished her Fragrant Olive Sword flat on her left.
Dobaa! With that tremendously hefty slashing sound, the golden shimmer from her sword flash brightly enough to blind even in the dim light.
A single, mere middle slash without feints or linked techniques-it was what would be called a basic technique in the "Aincrad style", "Horizontal". However, its speed and weight were enough to make cold sweat gush out from me just
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by gazing at it from the side. What cornered me without difficulty in that battle on the eightieth floor was the overwhelming degree of completeness in that single strike that forgave neither evasion nor defense. It was a might that easily pulverized my belief in the excel ence of consecutive hit skills that I held throughout my long years of living in VRMMOs.
Before Alice, still after having swung her sword, the four arms of the two minions fell. Fol owing that, despite how they should have been beyond her reach, their torsos split apart around their chests without a sound.
Dusky blood heartily spewed out from the monsters that crashed without letting out a single scream. Natural y, not a single drop came into contact with Alice.
The integrity knight who roused her body as though nothing had actually happened turned to me, still stuck in a one-sided defensive battle, and spoke in a vaguely sarcastic tone.
"Would you require any a.s.sistance?"
"...N-No thank you."
After politely refuting her proposal with the minimal of obstinacy, I evaded the consecutive attacks from the minion"s two arms, two legs, plus its tail, that I finally saw the pattern for, with a step. Turning towards the enemy that tried to regain its distance, I released the consecutive hit skill ingrained into my body.