#chudelkin

I hadn’t used this skill or taught it to Eugeo or even attempted re-creating it yet. And I knew why: Because this sword skill was the one the Black Swordsman knew best of all and used the most often. It was his symbol.

There would be only one shot at an attack. I couldn’t let him defend or evade it. In that sense, fifty feet was such a tremendously long distance. Balancing on his head meant Chudelkin couldn’t move quickly, but I’d already seen plenty of the little clown’s resilience in a pinch. I needed his attention diverted away from me, if just for a quarter of a second.

Six seconds left. With as few words as possible, I whispered to my partner:

His response was so immediate, so primed to go, that I glanced at him and saw that there was now a shining arrow of ice in Eugeo’s right hand. It wasn’t all that big, but the brilliance of its light was a sign that it had a high system priority. 

I supposed he must have taken the ice resources in the air from Alice and Chudelkin’s fierce battle and converted them for use without anyone noticing. Five seconds left. Eugeo moved his hands as though pulling on a greatbow, and the arrow in his grasp flashed blue.

Four seconds left. When the ice arrow had nearly reached the domed ceiling, Eugeo clenched his controlling hand. On command, the arrow plunged at twice the previous speed. Its vicious head bore down—and not on Prime Senator Chudelkin.

Three seconds left.

The true attack Eugeo was making was not on Administrator herself, however, but on Chudelkin’s abnormal fixation and attention on her.

Two seconds left.

I was already on the move before Chudelkin’s scream hit my ears. I held the sword at shoulder height, right arm pulled back as far as it could go. The preliminary motion kicked in and turned the blade red as blood. The system started moving my body automatically. My feet, wide apart, launched off the floor. The acceleration was funneled into my rotation, traveling through my back into my right shoulder. The rotation went back into a straight motion, bursting through my right arm into the sword that was now just an extension of it.

With the metallic roar of a jet engine, the sword burst forth in a straight line with a shining crimson light that was deeper than any of the flames. This was the One-Handed Sword skill Vorpal Strike. The reason I had used this skill so much in SAO was because it had the tremendous power to change the course of any battle, and a range that seemed almost unfair for a One-Handed Sword attack. The crimson effect carved through a space about twice the length of the blade itself. When combined with the full reach of my arm, it could sometimes outdistance even a long spear. But the distance to my target, Prime Senator Chudelkin, was a good fifty feet. A normal Vorpal Strike would never reach him. In other words, I had to use my imagination—my Incarnation power—to extend my first use of this attack in the Underworld to over five times its range. This would not be easy. But I didn’t think it impossible. I would never think it. Alice was exposing herself and her blade to hellfire, trusting in me to find the solution. My best friend, Eugeo, had used all his smarts and concentration to unleash a sacred art that would allow me this opportunity. If I couldn’t step up and do my part for them, I had no right to call myself a swordsman. And I was nothing if not Kirito the Black Swordsman.

The light effects around my sword flashed brighter, almost like an explosion. From one concentrated point at the tip of the sword, they practically drowned out the red light coming from the flaming clown. “Aaaah!!” I unleashed all the power at my disposal. One second left.

Eugeo’s POV:

What was that sound?! Eugeo gaped at the abnormal roar coming from just nearby.

All ultimate techniques created a multitude of lights and sounds. But this was different from anything he’d heard to this point. It was thicker, heavier, harder, sharper—just like the sword was roaring on its own. The sound was coming from the black sword in Kirito’s right hand. It sparkled like black crystal, the blade’s sharp edge rattling and emitting an earsplitting roar. And it wasn’t just sound—the entire sword was wreathed in deep-red light. It’s a special technique. But I’ve never seen this kind before. Eugeo held his breath. But the truly shocking part of this was what happened right after that.

This time, his partner’s entire body flashed brightly and transformed into an appearance that he’d never worn before.

There were more changes to Kirito’s body, though they weren’t as dramatic as the changes to his clothes.

First, his black hair was longer now, covering half of his profile. Also, what was visible of his eyes through the wild blowing of his bangs was fiercer than anything Eugeo had seen before. They were wild, the look harder— harder than when they’d fought the goblins in the northern cave, harder than when he’d cut off Raios Antinous’s arms, harder even than when he’d fought against Deusolbert and Fanatio. It was like Kirito’s very spirit had fused with the sword, becoming sharper and more dangerous.

It was clear that this was an ultimate technique of the Aincrad style. But what a tremendous thrust it was. It was unlike any of the moves he’d learned from Kirito; its ferocity seemed more High Norkia in style but with all the ornamentation and beauty removed. It was an attack meant for nothing but piercing a target… “……!” Eugeo sucked in a breath and followed the crimson shine with his eyes.

Kirito was aiming, of course, for Prime Senator Chudelkin, who was controlling the fiery behemoth. But the target was at least fifteen mels away. No special technique would reach that far as long as it was from a sword.

Kirito still didn’t move after he was back in his simple black shirt and pants. Eventually, he let his right arm drop until the tip of the black sword landed on the carpet, and he hung his head. Eugeo didn’t know what to say to him. Kirito had tried to save even Vice Commander Fanatio. Even against someone like Prime Senator Chudelkin, he would never celebrate the taking of another’s life. With his bangs back to being short, it was easy to see that the icy harshness he’d shown in the moment of his attack was gone.