"I, too, have never achieved victory in a match against him.
Hence, both you, who lost against me, and Eugeo, possessing as much skill as you, couldn"t possibly hope to defeat him."
"...Sure, that stands to reason. But as for whether I would have lost or not had we continued fighting..."
Ignoring my sore grumbling, the golden knight spoke on.
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"Certainly, oji-sama"s expertise with the sword is beyond top cla.s.s, but his armament full control art could even be said to be a technique on the level of the G.o.ds. The sacred instrument he holds, the "Time Piercing Sword", possesses the power to cleave through time as its name suggests. To be specific, the might behind oji-sama"s slashes remain in the air for a period of time... do you understand the implication of that? Even if one were to dodge those slashes one after another, it would only take a mere moment to get imprisoned within a cage of those invisible blades. Their limbs would be severed on touch, perhaps even their necks if they were down on their luck, and that said, they would meet their end even if they stayed still. All who have fought oji-sama had ended up taking on a single fatal hit in the end, like some wooden dummy."
"...The slashes remain..."
It was tough imagining the reality through those words alone, but I suppose that essentially meant that the slashes had their durations stretched into the future. If that was the case, it truly was a frightening ability. It easily nullified the essence of the Aincrad consecutive hits sword skills, which disregarded the power behind each hit in order to lengthen the attacks in terms of distance and time, that Eugeo and I excelled in.
Exactly how did Eugeo fare against such an opponent?
Though I am convinced that he had not died, cold, ominous premonitions crept their way up my back.
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I guess it really would be best to head downstairs in search of my partner. But what if the worst case had already occurred and he was apprehended and taken away upstairs... to the top of the cathedral, where Administrator lived? What if the highest minister, intimate with every command, was conducting some sort of dangerous art upon him this very moment...?
Putting my strength into my two legs that had final y shook off some of their fatigue, I staggered as I stood up. Glaring at the grand staircase on the northern side of the floor, I chewed my lips.
The thought that this was the perfect time to use sacred arts to search for Eugeo"s current position came to me, but as a general rule, sacred arts could not be targeted on "humans not in this area". Administrator and Cardinal"s death match would have been settled long ago if that had been possible. Targeting an object instead of a human would still be possible, but...
I finally noticed the existence of a simple solution upon getting to that point in my thoughts and muttered.
"I see... that"s right."
After unconcernedly nodding at Alice who turned to me with a suspicious look, I raised my right hand and shouted out at a restrained volume.
"System call! "
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The s.p.a.ce resources drained by the wal climbing had apparently been recovering as my extended fingers faintly glowed violet. Holding back the impulse to rush, I carefully chanted out the length of the command.
"Generate umbra element. Adhere possession. Object ID, WLSS703. Discharge. "
That all came from memory. Though it was nothing more than a guess, the string, "WLSS", in the first half of the ID might be short for "Double-edged, Long Sword, Single-hand"6 while the numbers in the latter half could be the serial number for swords in that category. My black sword"s ID was "WLSS102382", so there might mean that only several hundreds of single-handed longswords existed back when the Blue Rose Sword was generated and that particular number had went beyond a hundred thousand two years ago...
Even as I brooded over such things, an umbra element bead separated from my finger tip as it breezily floated downwards and burst apart, vanishing with a sparkly noise the moment it touched the floor a short distance away.
"...Downstairs, huh."
"It would appear so."
I exchanged a curt conversation with Alice who now had a look of comprehension on.
6 "WLSS" Double-edged, Long Sword, Single-hand (written in katakana). "W" represents "Double".
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I gripped and opened my lowered right hand several times; it seems that my Life, reduced from fatigue, had already recovered somewhat, but the injuries Alice had suffered should be far deeper than my own. Taking another look at the knight, I briefly enquired.
"How"s your right eye, any chance it could be healed...?"
Alice gently pressed against her right eye, covered by a bandage that was originally my shirt, with her finger tips at that and replied with a question.
"You were the one... who applied this?"
"Yeah... I got the blood to stop somehow, that"s the limits of my sacred arts. But you might be..."
"Wel , of course, your art usage authority couldn"t possibly compare to mine, but..."
Voicing out her usual harsh words without hesitation as usual, she turned her lone left eye towards the skies and stared at the bluish-white full moon.
"The current amount of sacred power in the air isn"t sufficient to generate the number of luminous elements necessary to regenerate my lost eye at all. It wil likely remain impossible until Solus rises."
"Then, if you convert some sort of high priority ob- no, item on you into sacred power... like that armor, perhaps..."
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"The art to return equipment into sacred power itself, too, requires no small amount of sacred power. Have you not learnt that in the academy?"
Alice put on a mildly exasperated face before hardening her expression and speaking.
"It stil hurts and my right field of vision is slightly deprived, but neither would serve much obstacle in combat. I do not mind staying in this state for the time being."
"B-But..."
"-And I wish to hold onto this sensation for a little longer.
This pain; this proof of my resolve to do battle with the Axiom Church I had trusted in for these many years..."
I could do naught but nod with her saying that. Knight Alice would have to cut open a path to obtain a fate chosen by her own hand in the battles happening from now on.
"...Got it. I"ll have your right if we have to fight."
Replying thus, I shifted my sight towards the grand staircase.
"Wel , sorry to rush you, but let"s get going. Eugeo seems to be quite a few floors below judging from the umbra element earlier."
To be accurate, I had searched for the Blue Rose Sword"s current position, rather than Eugeo"s, but he wouldn"t let his beloved sword out from his grasp until something major had 231.
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happened. Upon hearing my words, Alice, too, looked towards the stairs and nodded.
"Al ow me to lead the way, I am familiar with the way...
though I suppose we are only heading down the stairs."
Without granting me a chance to slip a word after her proclamation, she began walking with her boots making a clicking sound. I hurriedly followed behind.
Nothing more than a chil y draft blew from the grand staircase heading downwards at the northern end of the floor, the presence of humans was utterly lacking beyond the darkness. Signs of life from the inhabitants of the Central Cathedral was already boundlessly faint even on the lower floors, but this place near the top br.i.m.m.i.n.g with viscid dreariness could practical y get it cla.s.sified as a beautiful ruin.
One could hardly believe this was the pivotal organization reigning over the whole of the Human World.
If I recall right, the top of the Axiom Church should have a bunch of people called elders, aside from the Integrity Knight Order, but I wonder why haven"t we caught sight of any of them even after coming this high.
Positioning myself on Alice"s right after she started descending the stairs in advance, I softly voiced my misgiving.
The knight quickly frowned when I did and replied in a whisper as well.
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"To be perfectly honest... not even us, the integrity knights, have been briefed on the full picture behind the elders. We have heard of a department named the Chamber of Elders on the floors above, from the ninety-sixth, but the knights were barred from entering and..."
"Huh... -In the first place, what do those elders" work involve?"
"......The Taboo Index."
Alice"s voice became increasingly grave.
"Confirming and inspecting the Human World"s inhabitants"
compliance to the Taboo Index... that"s the elders" work. And the integrity knights are dispatched to deal with the situation whenever one who breaks a taboo appears. The order for me to head towards the Sword Mastery Academy in North Centoria to arrest Eugeo and you, too, was one from the elders."
"...I see... So, in other words, the Chamber of Elders does the highest minister"s work in her place, huh? But it"s pretty amazing that cautious Administrator granted them such a high authority. Or maybe the elders have their memories suppressed like the integrity knights as well..."
Alice scowled while shaking her head at my words.
"Please don"t mention anything concerning memories. I would be troubled if my left eye started hurting this time round."
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