The dagger Alice had driven into someone's back began to glow.
As its radiance intensified, the surrounding space suddenly shattered, opening a rift.
A library could be seen on the other side.
A silver-haired girl stepped through the glowing fissure. It was the real Administrator.
Alice's Divine Object, the Fragrant Olive Sword, was finally displaying its true power.
"Enhance Armament."
In an instant, the blade separated into hundreds of flower petals, each wrapped in golden light.
Under Alice's control, the razor-sharp petals formed a raging storm that swept toward the flaming giant.
At first, the attack appeared incapable of harming the incorporeal creature.
But Alice's fury toward those who had toyed with the lives of this world's inhabitants transformed into power. The golden petals began slicing into the giant flaming jester despite its lack of a physical body.
"Damn you! How is this possible?! Number Thirty, you're supposed to be useless!"
Alice answered Chudelkin's hideous shrieking by accelerating the storm until it became a golden tornado that engulfed him.
Countless petals continuously shaved away pieces of the flaming giant, scattering innumerable sparks.
It resembled someone scraping the surface of a red-hot piece of charcoal. Sparks sprayed in every direction, but once separated from the main body, each tiny ember quickly exhausted its Life and crumbled into ash.
The attack was effectively carving Chudelkin apart with a thousand blades. His screams no longer sounded remotely human.
Then Alice's eyes sharpened.
Countless particles of white light descended from the sky and passed through the ceiling. They gathered inside the chamber and formed a human figure.
It was a chestnut-haired girl who appeared to be around Alice's age.
She wore a gleaming breastplate that looked as though it had been crafted from pearl, accompanied by matching gauntlets and boots. Her long skirt consisted of countless narrow strips of cloth that moved as if alive, fluttering around her like a pair of wings.
Her sudden appearance stunned everyone on the battlefield.
Chudelkin was especially distracted. Despite already being in a desperate position, the newly arrived girl immediately captured his attention. Unconcealed lust appeared in his gaze.
What a stupid pig.
Alice sneered inwardly and seized the instant his attention wavered.
She clenched her fist, and the tornado formed from countless petals abruptly tightened around him.
A storm of sparks erupted.
"Damn you, Number Thirty! Stop! You filthy sow! Die! I'll take you with me! I'll drag you—"
His roar, filled with rage, hatred, curses, and every other conceivable negative emotion, abruptly ended when the petals shredded his throat.
A moment later, his entire body was torn apart and riddled with countless holes.
In the blink of an eye, the enormous giant collapsed into tiny flames scattered across the floor. The storm of petals swept over them and extinguished every last one.
Thus, Chudelkin—the worthless creature who had helped Administrator commit so many atrocities—finally met his end.
"The artificial intelligence named Alice has malfunctioned. Eliminate her, and don't allow her to interfere while I dispose of Administrator's Fluctlight!"
The man formerly controlled by Cardinal had now fallen under Administrator's control.
He held Administrator's original body by the temples with both hands. A faint light emanated from his palms, making it appear as though he were extracting something from her.
He claimed to be disposing of Administrator's Fluctlight, but he was actually transferring it into his own body so that she could replace him.
Even while carrying out this operation, Administrator attempted to turn the accusations against Alice.
Alice answered with a gaze as cold as the polar wastes.
Just as her uncle had warned her, Administrator was no different from the others. She could never be trusted.
Without hesitation, Alice sent the golden petals surging toward her.
The newly arrived girl performed some unknown operation. The floor around Administrator warped, and stone slabs rose from every direction, shielding her from the petals.
Alice attempted to break through the stone barrier, but her expression abruptly changed. She immediately recalled the petals and reassembled them into a sword.
Clang!
The chestnut-haired girl's blade collided violently with Alice's, sending sparks flying.
"Fool! Administrator has already invaded that man's consciousness. She's about to take control of him! You people from the real world are being played for fools!"
Even as Alice spoke coldly, their swords collided dozens of times.
"I'm sorry, but I have to stop you. Mr. Kain will be fine."
Alice could not be bothered to explain any further.
Judging by the woman's voice and expression, she placed absolute faith in the man she knew as Shige.
No—that man's real name in the real world was Kain.
This woman reminded Alice of the Chudelkin she had just killed. Both of them blindly obeyed someone without questioning a thing.
Alice's blade finally cut the girl, though she was struck in return. Even then, her opponent had clearly held back.
The girl did not appear cruel by nature. She did not want to injure anyone, much less kill them.
Alice sneered.
"What's wrong? Can people from the real world not endure even a little pain? Just how comfortable was the life you lived for them to send in a fool like you?"
"Shut up!"
The newcomer was Asuna, who had descended into the Underworld using the super account of Stacia, the Goddess of Creation.
Alice's taunt made her frown.
Asuna sympathized with what Alice had endured. She understood why Alice had become like this, and she even respected Alice's willingness to sacrifice herself.
But that did not mean she was willing to tolerate Alice mocking her as a weakling.
Alice made it sound as though Asuna were a delicate flower raised in a greenhouse.
In truth, however, Alice was not entirely wrong. Compared with everything Alice had suffered since childhood, Asuna's upbringing had been incomparably peaceful.
Even her year and a half trapped inside SAO did not seem to compare with Alice's life.
Still, if Alice insisted on saying that, Asuna would stop holding back.
Of course, she had no intention of killing Alice.
Only after being cut herself had Asuna truly understood the degree of pain Alice was enduring.
She had known from the beginning that physical sensations in this world were identical to those of the real world. But without experiencing that pain personally, she had been unable to comprehend it.
Now that she did understand, she had become hesitant. She was afraid of cutting Alice and inflicting the same agony upon her.
But if Asuna wanted to prevent Alice from disrupting the plan, she could no longer afford to hesitate.
"Good. That's more like it," Alice declared. "If you fight seriously, I can finally bring myself to kill you!"
Alice's attacks became even more ferocious.
If Asuna had continued looking at her with sympathy, Alice might not have been able to harden her heart and kill her.
Their battle immediately reached its climax.
"I take back what I said," Alice declared after another violent collision sent them springing apart. This time, genuine respect colored her voice. "You truly weren't raised in a greenhouse."
Alice could tell this was Asuna's first time inflicting genuine physical harm on another person. It was also her first time experiencing that kind of injury herself.
Yet Asuna endured the pain and continued fighting.
She could not possibly be some sheltered young lady. If she were, she would already have broken down sobbing after being cut by Alice's blade—or fled the Underworld entirely.
"My next attack will be nothing like the ones before it!"
Alice could not allow this battle to drag on any longer.
She had noticed the expression on Administrator's hateful face. That woman was clearly on the verge of succeeding.
Alice prepared to unleash a devastating attack at the cost of a significant amount of her Life. She would break through Asuna and stop Administrator.
"Bring it on!"
Asuna answered boldly, though tension gripped her heart.
She knew the next strike would inflict pain beyond anything she had experienced before.
"Try not to cry."
"You're the one who shouldn't cry!"
Both girls tightened their grips on their weapons, preparing to unleash the decisive strike.
Then, barely a hundredth of a second before they charged—
"Aaaaaagh!"
A scream filled with agony beyond any imaginable torture interrupted them.
Asuna's astonishment immediately turned to delight.
The plan had succeeded.
Alice, however, went from shock to complete bewilderment.
She recognized the voice.
The person screaming was Administrator.
The anguish in that heart-rending wail sounded far too genuine to be an act.
What was happening?
(End of Chapter)
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