It got brighter!
Night vision magic?
ALfheim, Neutral Territory, The Lugru Corridor, January 21, 2025
I guess Spriggans are good for something.
Put that way, it kind of hurts.
But you should memorize any magic you can use.
Of course, the only magic you're good at is illusion magic.
Illusion?
You can use it to trick people.
It's not that useful in combat, though.
Well, even the lame Spriggan magic
might save our lives someday.
That hurt even more.
The Lugru Corridor
Don't try to memorize them as sounds.
Learn the words of power's meanings.
Then memorize the spells, based on their effects.
I never thought I'd have to do something like memorizing English in a game.
Just so you know, the higher-ranked spells have around twenty words.
I'm just gonna stick to fighting...
No complaints!
I have a message.
Hold on a second.
Sure.
Recon again?
I'm sure it's nothing, but...
"I was right. Be careful. S."
What's this?
"S"?
Sa... Shi... Su?
What's wrong?
Oh, well...
Daddy, something's getting closer.
Monsters?
No, players.
Lots of them.
Twelve.
Twelve?!
I've got a bad feeling.
Let's hide and wait for them to pass.
But where?
Just leave that to me.
H-Hey...
Make sure you whisper as quietly as you can.
If you're too loud, it'll break the spell.
Roger.
We'll be able to see them soon.
What is that?
We can't see them yet?
It isn't a player.
A bat?
It's red and small.
H-Hey, what's wrong?
That's a high-level tracing searcher.
We have to destroy it!
Run, Kirito-kun!
Can't we just hide again?
The enemy knows we blew up their tracer.
We won't be able to fool them.
And that was a fire element familiar.
Which means that the approaching party...
Salamanders?
But what is a group of Salamanders doing here?
It's a lake...
Looks like we're going to make it.
Don't lower your guard and fall in.
Crap.
That won't work.
You should've said something sooner.
You're in too big a hurry.
This is an earth magic barrier.
Physical attacks won't break it.
Can we jump in the lake?
Nope.
Supposedly, there are extremely high-level monsters in the water.
Fighting without an Undine backing you up would be suicide.
Then we have to fight?
Yeah, but it might not be too easy.
If the Salamanders can use high-level earth magic,
they have a powerful mage.
Leafa...
It isn't that I don't trust your skills as a swordsman.
But could you handle support from here?
I want you to stay in the back and heal me.
That way, I can fight harder.
They're focusing on taking him out.
Kirito-kun!
He'll run out of HP at this rate...
That's enough Kirito-kun.
If we lose, we'll just have to fly a few more hours!
Let's give up!
No way.
While I'm alive, I won't let any party members die.
I will never let that happen!
What the hell?
What's he doing?
This is your only chance!
Chance?
Use all the mana you have left
to block the next magic attack!
B-But that won't help.
Daddy, now!
That's illusion magic.
But it only makes you look like a big monster.
Is that you, Kirito-kun?
Idiot!
Don't break formation!
It just looks scary and has long reach.
If we stick to the plan and stay in formation,
the damage won't get through!
E-Explosion magic!
R-Retreat!
Retreat!
Stop!
Kirito-kun, let him live!
That was amazing, wasn't it?
Ow...
Now, why don't you explain who sent you here?
K-Kill me if you want!
Why, you...
Oh, that was fun...
Hey, nice fight.
That was a good plan.
If I'd been alone, I wouldn't have lasted a minute.
W-Wait, Kirito-kun!
Give me a second.
So, I have an offer for you.
These are the items and Yuld I won in the last battle.
If you answer my questions, maybe you can have them!
Seriously?
Totally.
Men.
He's pretty blunt about it.
It was earlier this evening when G-Takusu-san...
The leader of the mage squad, I mean...
He messaged me on my cell to meet here.
And when I arrived,
he said twelve of us were going to go hunting for two people.
I thought it was overkill, but...
He said you were the ones who took out Kagemune-san,
so it made sense.
Kagemune? Who's that?
The leader of the lancer squad.
He's famous for hunting Sylphs.
But yesterday, he got wiped out in battle, and ran back.
That was you, right?
But why did this G-Takusu guy come after us?
Looks like it was someone higher up...
Something about you interfering with the plan.
Plan?
They wouldn't tell someone at the bottom of the totem pole like me.
But it looks like they're planning something big...
When I logged in today,
I saw a huge number heading north.
They must be...
going for the World Tree.
No way.
We figured the whole army would need at least ancient weapon-class equipment.
So we're saving money for that.
That's all I know.
You weren't lying about what you said earlier, were you?
No,
I'd never lie about a trade.
Hey, that monster I just saw...
That was you, right?
I think so...
You think so?
That happens to me sometimes...
I just snap in battle, and start forgetting things.
Scary.
Though I do mostly remember this recent one.
I used the spell Yui suggested.
Now!
And then I got huge...
I lost my sword too, so I just started grabbing people.
You were chomping on them, too.
Come to think of it, yeah...
I got to feel like a monster. It was lots of fun!
Did they taste like anything?
A texture like yakiniku just before it's burnt.
Actually, never mind.
Don't say it.
So this is Lugru?
That one was your fault.
Seriously!
It was a hilarious joke to lighten up a tense vibe.
Next time you do that, I slice you in half.
Okay...
That's right...
Didn't you get a message before those Salamanders attacked us?
Yeah...
I forgot.
What's with Recon?
Did he fall asleep?
Want to log out and try to reach him?
Then, I'll log out for a second and check with him.
You wait.
Take care of my body, Yui-chan.
Okay.
Make sure your dad doesn't do anything to it.
Roger!
Seriously...
Are you sure you want to log out?
Nagata Shin'ichi Missed Call
Hello? Nagata-kun?
What's going on?!
You finally picked up!
You're late, Suguha-chan!
I was having some in-game problems.
B-Big trouble!
Sigurd is coming after us.
A-And not just that...
They sold out Sakuya-san, the Sylph leader!
Sold her out?
What do you mean?
Go back to the beginning and explain.
There's no time...
You remember
when the Salamanders attacked us in the Ancient Forest?
Didn't that strike you as odd?
Odd?
Did something happen?
Sigurd said he'd be a decoy,
and he drew off three of them, right?
Oh, right...
It wasn't like him.
Normally, wouldn't he make someone else do it?
That's true.
But what does that mean?
What I'm getting at is...
He's been working with the Salamanders.
Probably for a while now!
Do you have any proof?
I thought something was weird,
so I spent the whole day invisible, and I followed Sigurd.
And I saw them...
They were putting on invisibility cloaks in a back alley, too.
I thought something was strange.
Down deep in the sewers,
there were two weird guys waiting for them...
And they were Salamanders!
I knew something was up, so I went to listen in.
And they said they put a tracer on you.
Then what happened to you?
I'm still in the sewers, paralyzed from the poison arrow.
And the Salamanders have me.
That's why you called me IRL...
It's more than that!
Sakuya-san is supposed to form an alliance with the Cait Sith today.
So she's secretly heading to neutral territory.
Sigurd's going to attack the signing ceremony
with a huge group of Salamanders!
We have to hurry!
Welcome back, Leafa.
Welcome back.
Kirito-kun, I'm sorry.
I have to take care of something now.
It seems I don't have time to explain.
And I may not be able to return here...
Then you can explain on the way.
We have to walk out of here anyway, right?
Got it.
So, in forty minutes, past the Valley of the Butterflies,
a discussion will begin between the Sylphs and the Cait Sith.
I see.
Can I ask some questions?
Go ahead.
How do the Salamanders benefit from attacking
the Sylphs and the Cait Sith?
First, they can stop the alliance.
If an information leak on the Sylph side kills their leader,
wouldn't the Cait Sith be very upset?
Yeah.
It's also possible there could be war
between the Cait Sith and the Sylphs.
And if you take out a territory leader,
you get thirty percent of the territory's money,
and you can invade its town for ten days and levy whatever tax you want.
You can do that?
So, Kirito-kun,
this is a Sylph problem.
There's no reason you need to help.
If we go to the meeting, we probably won't get out alive.
We'll have to start at Sylvein again.
No, it's even possible...
That if you want to reach the top of the World Tree,
you'd be better off working with the Salamanders.
If they pull this off,
they'll be perfectly positioned to make an attempt up the World Tree.
Since you're a Spriggan,
they might hire you as a mercenary.
So even if you kill me here,
I won't complain.
In the end,
it's just a game, so do what you want.
If you want to kill someone, kill them.
If you want to steal, you steal.
I've met more people who think that way than I'd want.
In a way, it's true.
I used to think the same way.
But it's not true...
There are things you have to protect
especially because it's a virtual world.
I learned that from someone important.
If you give in to your impulses in this world,
the price is that it changes your personality in the real world.
The player and the character are one and the same.
I like you, Leafa.
I want to be your friend.
I'd never attack someone like that
just for my own benefit.
Kirito-kun...
Thank you.
Sorry, that sounded really arrogant, right?
It's a bad habit...
No, I was happy.
Crap...
We're wasting time, aren't we?
Yui, we're going to run. Lead the way.
Roger!
Let me borrow your hand...
U-Uh...
Let's go!
U-Uh, m-monsters!
The exit!
Next Time: General of the Blazing Flame