“Not even birds approach the upper floors of the cathedral. I
do not know the specifics, but I have heard a unique art
wrought by the highest minister’s hand is at work.”
“So that’s it… that’s meticulous.”
I surveyed the surrounding again, then saw that although
there were bird-like silhouettes extremely far away, they
certainly showed no sign of approaching. This could be said to
be the embodiment of the transcendental magic ability and
unhealthy wariness of the most influential being, Administrator.
On that line of thought, the abnormal height of this tower, too,
seemed to be a symbol of her authority while being an
expression of fear towards unseen enemies.
“In that case, there are three choices remaining… to descend,
to ascend, or to break through the wall again, huh.”
“The third will likely be difficult. Like the «immortal walls»,
the cathedral’s outer walls should endowed with practically
infinite Life and the nature to repair themselves. The same
applies to the glass on the lower floors.”
“Then, that makes descending to the windows pointless too,
huh…”
When I muttered so, Alice lightly nodded before she spoke.
“…In the first place, I find it hard to believe a hole could have
opened up in the wall from within the tower earlier… there is
no way to think about it aside from it being an one-in-a-million
Sword Art Online 13 - Alicization Dividing
Chapter 10 - Integrity Knight Alice
38
stroke of misfortune caused by that abnormal power released
when our armament full control arts combined. My goodness,
what a meaningless deed you’ve done.”
“……”
We would get into a spiral of quarrels if I retort here, I
thought as I held it in, getting it to settle down after merely
heavy breathing, before I asked.
“…But in that case, wouldn’t it be logical for the wall to break
if we bring about that same phenomenon again?”
“The probability is not a complete zero, but… it would be
difficult to return inside in the few seconds before the hole
automatically repairs and there’s one more thing to note, that I
have already used this child’s… this «Fragrant Olive Sword»’s
full control art twice. I cannot use the art unless I allow it to
bask in plenty of sunlight or let it rest in its scabbard.”
“That’s true, it’s the same for me. I’ll have to put it in my
sheath… or rather, there’s quite a lot of stress being placed on it
just by dangling like this, right? It’s best to get a move on soon,
regardless of whether we’re descending or ascending.”
I tried feeling over the marble wall with my left hand as I
spoke, but the number of bumps and dips was a hopeless nil.
Blocks, with sides of roughly two meters at least, piled on
forever neatly, without even a window visible on this west side.
Sword Art Online 13 - Alicization Dividing
Chapter 10 - Integrity Knight Alice
39
Breaking it apparently wouldn’t be possible either, even if there
was one, according to Alice.
As for a method for moving across the wall, there probably
weren’t any aside from preparing something like a piton2 used
in rock climbing and driving that into the seams between the
marble. There wasn’t any great difference in effort between
ascending or descending, so I would rather set the floors above
as my goal, but the problem with that would be that—
I stared at Alice on my left with the most serious expression I
could muster and asked, resigned to the low chance of getting a
reply.
“If we were to head upwards… is there somewhere we can
return into the tower from?”
Alice showed a hesitating expression as expected and chewed
on her lips at that. If we could enter the tower by climbing, that
would indeed be extremely close to the highest floor where
Administrator resides. Guiding an enemy of the church to such a
place would be nearly the same as committing a taboo as an
integrity knight, a guardian.
However—
2 Piton – Pitons are metal spikes used in climbing stuff, by driving them
into holes or gaps. However, the original word used here was “haken”, a
German word commonly used in Japanese to refer to that, rather than an
English word.
Sword Art Online 13 - Alicization Dividing
Chapter 10 - Integrity Knight Alice
40
Alice drew in a deep breath, then put strength into her gaze
and nodded.
“There is. On the ninety-fifth floor, a place called the
«Morning Star Lookout», should be entirely see-through, with
only pillars for its four walls. We should be able to easily return
inside if we could climb up there. …However.”
A remarkably strong gleam resided in her two blue eyes.
“Even if we reach the ninety-fifth floor, I will cut you there
without fail.”
Taking on the integrity knight’s gaze, filled with enough
resolve to cause a prickly numbness on my nape, head-on, I
nodded in return.
“That’s our agreement from the start, after all. Well—you’re
okay with climbing the wall, then?”
“…Very well. It is more pragmatic than descending to the
ground from here. However… despite how assuredly you said it,
how do you intend on climbing this vertical wall?”
“Well, obviously, we’re going to run vertically… no, that’s a
joke.”
After clearing my throat in a bid to escape Alice’s glance that
had rapidly froze down to below absolute zero, I swapped my
sword to my left hand, held out my right palm, and chanted an
art.
Sword Art Online 13 - Alicization Dividing
Chapter 10 - Integrity Knight Alice
41
“System call! Generate metallic element!“
A metallic element, shining like mercury, was instantly
created, so I altered its form with a supplement art and the
power of my imagination. Pulling it out to a length of around
fifty centimeters and sharpening its point to the shape of a thin
blade, I made an impromptu large piton which I firmly held
onto.
Looking up at the stone seam my black sword was thrust into
overhead, I swung my right hand with force.
“Hmph!”
Upon driving in the piton with as much strength as I could
muster, fortunately, the blade portion stabbed into the narrow
gap without breaking. I tried to pry it out, upwards and
downwards, but it seemed like it would stay fixed without issue
even if my body weight hung off it.
The Lives of objects created through sacred arts were
exceedingly low, vanishing in a few hours even when left alone.
Hence, the lifeline connecting Alice and myself wasn’t used in
the end, but it would suffice if it was strong enough to support
us as we climbed the wall.
While sensing Alice’s usual suspicious look, I firmly gripped
the piton with my right hand and drew my black sword that had
been abused to its limit with my left. I stored that into the
sheath on my waist, then dangled off the piton extruding
Sword Art Online 13 - Alicization Dividing
Chapter 10 - Integrity Knight Alice
42
around forty centimeters from the wall with both hands and
treated it as a horizontal bar as I did a kip3.
Although my physical ability in the Underworld didn’t reach
mine at the end of the SAO period that would make a B movie’s
ninja ashamed, it still far more nimble, yet brawny, when
compared to the real world. Placing my right foot on the bar, I
steadily placed my left hand onto the wall while lifting my body
up in a single stroke and succeeded in standing atop the thin,
metallic rod.
“Are… are you all right?”
After lowering my sight at that hoarse voice, I saw Alice
gripping tightly onto the golden chain with her free hand and
looking up at me with a somewhat pale face. That expression
gave off an unexpectedly childish impression and made me
want to pretend I was falling against my better judgement, but
killed that thought, knowing this wasn’t the place for it.
“I’m fine… I think.”
Casually giving a signal with my right hand, I chanted the art
again and brought forth a new piton. Driving it into the next gap
I could see overhead with plenty of strength, I climbed up with
the same process as earlier. While embracing a modest sense of
accomplishment over finally advancing, though it was merely
two meters, I called out to Alice below.
do not know the specifics, but I have heard a unique art
wrought by the highest minister’s hand is at work.”
“So that’s it… that’s meticulous.”
I surveyed the surrounding again, then saw that although
there were bird-like silhouettes extremely far away, they
certainly showed no sign of approaching. This could be said to
be the embodiment of the transcendental magic ability and
unhealthy wariness of the most influential being, Administrator.
On that line of thought, the abnormal height of this tower, too,
seemed to be a symbol of her authority while being an
expression of fear towards unseen enemies.
“In that case, there are three choices remaining… to descend,
to ascend, or to break through the wall again, huh.”
“The third will likely be difficult. Like the «immortal walls»,
the cathedral’s outer walls should endowed with practically
infinite Life and the nature to repair themselves. The same
applies to the glass on the lower floors.”
“Then, that makes descending to the windows pointless too,
huh…”
When I muttered so, Alice lightly nodded before she spoke.
“…In the first place, I find it hard to believe a hole could have
opened up in the wall from within the tower earlier… there is
no way to think about it aside from it being an one-in-a-million
Sword Art Online 13 - Alicization Dividing
Chapter 10 - Integrity Knight Alice
38
stroke of misfortune caused by that abnormal power released
when our armament full control arts combined. My goodness,
what a meaningless deed you’ve done.”
“……”
We would get into a spiral of quarrels if I retort here, I
thought as I held it in, getting it to settle down after merely
heavy breathing, before I asked.
“…But in that case, wouldn’t it be logical for the wall to break
if we bring about that same phenomenon again?”
“The probability is not a complete zero, but… it would be
difficult to return inside in the few seconds before the hole
automatically repairs and there’s one more thing to note, that I
have already used this child’s… this «Fragrant Olive Sword»’s
full control art twice. I cannot use the art unless I allow it to
bask in plenty of sunlight or let it rest in its scabbard.”
“That’s true, it’s the same for me. I’ll have to put it in my
sheath… or rather, there’s quite a lot of stress being placed on it
just by dangling like this, right? It’s best to get a move on soon,
regardless of whether we’re descending or ascending.”
I tried feeling over the marble wall with my left hand as I
spoke, but the number of bumps and dips was a hopeless nil.
Blocks, with sides of roughly two meters at least, piled on
forever neatly, without even a window visible on this west side.
Sword Art Online 13 - Alicization Dividing
Chapter 10 - Integrity Knight Alice
39
Breaking it apparently wouldn’t be possible either, even if there
was one, according to Alice.
As for a method for moving across the wall, there probably
weren’t any aside from preparing something like a piton2 used
in rock climbing and driving that into the seams between the
marble. There wasn’t any great difference in effort between
ascending or descending, so I would rather set the floors above
as my goal, but the problem with that would be that—
I stared at Alice on my left with the most serious expression I
could muster and asked, resigned to the low chance of getting a
reply.
“If we were to head upwards… is there somewhere we can
return into the tower from?”
Alice showed a hesitating expression as expected and chewed
on her lips at that. If we could enter the tower by climbing, that
would indeed be extremely close to the highest floor where
Administrator resides. Guiding an enemy of the church to such a
place would be nearly the same as committing a taboo as an
integrity knight, a guardian.
However—
2 Piton – Pitons are metal spikes used in climbing stuff, by driving them
into holes or gaps. However, the original word used here was “haken”, a
German word commonly used in Japanese to refer to that, rather than an
English word.
Sword Art Online 13 - Alicization Dividing
Chapter 10 - Integrity Knight Alice
40
Alice drew in a deep breath, then put strength into her gaze
and nodded.
“There is. On the ninety-fifth floor, a place called the
«Morning Star Lookout», should be entirely see-through, with
only pillars for its four walls. We should be able to easily return
inside if we could climb up there. …However.”
A remarkably strong gleam resided in her two blue eyes.
“Even if we reach the ninety-fifth floor, I will cut you there
without fail.”
Taking on the integrity knight’s gaze, filled with enough
resolve to cause a prickly numbness on my nape, head-on, I
nodded in return.
“That’s our agreement from the start, after all. Well—you’re
okay with climbing the wall, then?”
“…Very well. It is more pragmatic than descending to the
ground from here. However… despite how assuredly you said it,
how do you intend on climbing this vertical wall?”
“Well, obviously, we’re going to run vertically… no, that’s a
joke.”
After clearing my throat in a bid to escape Alice’s glance that
had rapidly froze down to below absolute zero, I swapped my
sword to my left hand, held out my right palm, and chanted an
art.
Sword Art Online 13 - Alicization Dividing
Chapter 10 - Integrity Knight Alice
41
“System call! Generate metallic element!“
A metallic element, shining like mercury, was instantly
created, so I altered its form with a supplement art and the
power of my imagination. Pulling it out to a length of around
fifty centimeters and sharpening its point to the shape of a thin
blade, I made an impromptu large piton which I firmly held
onto.
Looking up at the stone seam my black sword was thrust into
overhead, I swung my right hand with force.
“Hmph!”
Upon driving in the piton with as much strength as I could
muster, fortunately, the blade portion stabbed into the narrow
gap without breaking. I tried to pry it out, upwards and
downwards, but it seemed like it would stay fixed without issue
even if my body weight hung off it.
The Lives of objects created through sacred arts were
exceedingly low, vanishing in a few hours even when left alone.
Hence, the lifeline connecting Alice and myself wasn’t used in
the end, but it would suffice if it was strong enough to support
us as we climbed the wall.
While sensing Alice’s usual suspicious look, I firmly gripped
the piton with my right hand and drew my black sword that had
been abused to its limit with my left. I stored that into the
sheath on my waist, then dangled off the piton extruding
Sword Art Online 13 - Alicization Dividing
Chapter 10 - Integrity Knight Alice
42
around forty centimeters from the wall with both hands and
treated it as a horizontal bar as I did a kip3.
Although my physical ability in the Underworld didn’t reach
mine at the end of the SAO period that would make a B movie’s
ninja ashamed, it still far more nimble, yet brawny, when
compared to the real world. Placing my right foot on the bar, I
steadily placed my left hand onto the wall while lifting my body
up in a single stroke and succeeded in standing atop the thin,
metallic rod.
“Are… are you all right?”
After lowering my sight at that hoarse voice, I saw Alice
gripping tightly onto the golden chain with her free hand and
looking up at me with a somewhat pale face. That expression
gave off an unexpectedly childish impression and made me
want to pretend I was falling against my better judgement, but
killed that thought, knowing this wasn’t the place for it.
“I’m fine… I think.”
Casually giving a signal with my right hand, I chanted the art
again and brought forth a new piton. Driving it into the next gap
I could see overhead with plenty of strength, I climbed up with
the same process as earlier. While embracing a modest sense of
accomplishment over finally advancing, though it was merely
two meters, I called out to Alice below.
