"I doubt he can, but... in the first place, where are the stairs leading up?"
I took another look around the circular room that was probably the ninety-ninth floor as prompted.
s.p.a.cious. The diameter likely measured around thirty meters.
The floor, ceiling, and curving wall were all made from that same marble I now felt used to, but there were surprisingly little decorative features. There were just the large lamps curling around the wall at most, but only four were lit at the moment, so it was dim. Though that only made sense since the 283.
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room was pure white al over and would become blinding if they were all lit.
The stairs connected to Chudelkin"s room where we climbed up from was wide open at the floor bordering the wal . It had a marble flip-up door attached and would likely blend in perfectly with the floor when closed.
In that case, there might be a pul -down door hiding the stairs up somewhere in the ceiling. I tried searching for any cords or handles with that in mind, but I couldn"t seem to see anything of that sort. Guess I might as well hit the ceiling with a sword skil now; that then happened while I was hardening my grip on the sword in my right hand.
"......This room..."
Alice murmured all of a sudden. Turning around, I saw the knight"s blue left eye opened slightly.
"What is it?"
"......I know this room. This is... where I woke up as an integrity knight apprentice six years ago......"
"Eeh... you sure!?"
"Yes... Al of the wall lamps were lit then... the room shone radiantly with light... The esteemed highest minister stood in the middle and talked to me as I laid down. Awaken, child of the G.o.ds... she said..."
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Alice must have realized how her speech had gained a respectful tone too. With a slight grimace, she continued with more strength.
"...The esteemed highest minister gave me, who had lost my previous memories, a false past and my mission as a knight, then entrusted me to oji-sama... Knight Commander Bercouli.
There was a depression somewhere on the floor, like the elevating disk constructed at the middle floors, that brought oji- sama and me to the ninety-fifth floor back then. I have never been here again since then."
"A depression on the floor...?"
Inclining my head, I tried stomping on the marble floor with the sole of my boots. But I only felt the firmness of thick stone.
It would be sil y searching this vast room for a hidden elevator and in the first place, we had no need for a method to go downstairs.
"Alice, do you remember how Administrator returned to her room at that time?"
The knight pondered over my question with a finger from her left hand on her lips.
"I believe... that immediately before the elevating disk oji- sama and I rode sank into the floor... the esteemed highest minister look up at the ceiling... and a smal elevating disk came from above..."
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"That"s it!"
Shouting so, I stared a hole into the pure white ceiling once more. Rather than a pul -down door, there was an elevator hidden somewhere there. However, I couldn"t find anything like a switch even with another sweep. There wasn"t anyone in charge unlike the elevator connecting the fiftieth and eightieth floors, so there must be some mechanism that automatically raises or lowers it. And that something...
"Ah... maybe the chief elder"s chant earlier was..."
Alice also had a response for my murmuring.
"It wasn"t an offensive art for a surprise attack, but to move an elevating disk...? In that case, Kirito, do you recall what Chudelkin had recited after " generate"?"
"E-Erm..."
Feeling that I couldn"t give "I didn"t hear it" as an answer here, I frantical y replayed my memories from several minutes ago. If I recal right, following the generate command, the chief elder"s squeaky voice continued with- "Lu... Lu-something, I think..."
Alice emitted a freezing cold gaze at me as I agonized to recal the rest.
"That much is enough. The only one starting with "lu" would be the luminous element."
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Not sparing me any further attention as I nodded in agreement, Alice first returned the drawn sword in her right hand to its scabbard, then held her ten lithe fingers up towards the ceiling.
"System call! Generate luminous element! "
Amazingly, the number of luminous elements generated was the theoretical limit of ten. Alice released the white points of light wandering about her fingertips in a radial pattern without modification. The luminous elements struck against various spots on the ceiling, one after another, without making a sound.
One among them all let out a stronger radiance-a circle of light with a diameter of around one meter appeared on the ceiling while that thought crossed my mind. Its position wasn"t in the middle, but rather close to the wal .
I moved beside Alice who had lowered her hands and warily watched over the phenomenon. The circle of light immediately faded but didn"t vanish, and eventually, outlined by the boundary, a part of the marble ceiling smoothly protruded out and gently descended. The slate with a thickness of over fifty centimeters must be absurdly heavy, but it moved without any hint of that. The luminous element must have only served as a switch and the slate used some other source of energy for its movement, I couldn"t tell how it had been constructed. It was practically parallel to the various miracles the sage, Cardinal, displayed in the Great Library Room... no, it must have been so.
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What powered this elevator must be just a mere part of the unfathomable capabilities the highest minister, Administrator, possessed.
The elevator-or elevating disk, as Alice called it, barely jolted as landed upon the floor. Its surface was laid over with bright red carpeting rather than bare marble, mildly gleaming as bluish white light rained down from the circular hole in the ceiling.
And the path to the top floor of the Central Cathedral was now open.
The greatest and last battle wil finally begin when Alice and I step onto that elevating disk and arrive at the hundredth floor.
The initial plan was to stab Administrator with our secret weapon, that dagger, while she slept and to leave the rest to Cardinal. However, the highest minister must have awoken with Chudelkin fleeing to the hundredth floor and in the first place, I had already used up my dagger to save Deputy Knight Commander Fanatio.
But fortunately, though I wonder if I could consider it so, Knight Alice had consented to return her personality to the original Alice. Hence, there was no longer any need for the dagger Eugeo held to be used on Alice. We would first rescue Eugeo who had been taken to the hundredth floor before us and was likely still frozen, then stab Administrator with the dagger 288.
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while she still had her guard down. We likely had no chance at winning with any other strategy.
It appeared Alice had steeled own her will as well in the meantime.
Exchanging looks, we nodded once, and spoke.
"...Let"s go."
"Let us move."
Thus, Integrity Knight Alice Synthesis Thirty and I, the expert swordsman-in-training, Kirito, took a step towards the elevating disk fifteen meters away.
One step, two, three-and it happened.
The pale blue light that was probably moonlight pouring down from the hole in the ceiling abruptly darkened.
Glaring beams of bright light shone into my eyes as I stood still and looked up at the hole. It was the moonlight reflected from an elegantly designed metal armor. A long mantle fluttered as someone slowly descended from the hole in the ceiling, six meters high, covered from head to toe in heavy armor.
Judging from the height, it couldn"t possibly be Chudelkin. I wondered if the highest minister herself had bothered to come down to the ninety-ninth floor, but that was a man"s physique.
With his face concealed due to the backlight.
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"There was still another integrity knight...?"
I muttered- "That armor should... no, but still..."
And Alice whispered; the new knight landed upon the elevating disk with a graceful metallic sound in the next moment. Absorbing the impact by bending his knees, he gently stood up.
The armor was silver with traces of blue. The surface that seemed somewhat translucent gleamed brilliantly as it took in the moonlight. The mantle was a rich blue and as far as I could see, there weren"t any swords on his waist. His lowered face was hidden by a large gorget, but his wavy hair was... a mellow flaxen.
A shudder tore through my entire body like a bolt of lightning in that instant.
That hair color. The color that always accompanied me throughout these two years I spent in the Underworld.
No way. But still. Why?
In my vision, the knight finally raised his face as I stood stil , a.s.sailed by extreme confusion. Green eyes stared straight back from beyond those somewhat downcast eyelids. I couldn"t deny it any longer. The boy who wore the integrity knight armor was......
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".........Eugeo......"