【Youtongyou】IF WORLD

Shadow Chapter

3.

"Because I'm not the real Eugeo?"

(No, you are you anyway.)

"For you, your wish to save Eugeo has not been fulfilled, so you don't want to come back here?"

(How? I want to see you again, I want to talk to you again, I long to be with you forever...just, not yet.)

……

"Woo..."

When my consciousness was connected to the world again, my mind was dizzy, as if I had returned to the moment when I was injected with succinylcholine, as if I was about to be swallowed by the boundless cold and loneliness.Although it is a bit inappropriate for me who has not died yet, this must be the horror of dying.

The electronic ghost originally didn't need to eat or sleep, but my consciousness was interrupted for a long time. I was able to wake up in this illusory state. It seemed that I was very lucky.

With the awakening of consciousness, my memory gradually recovered, and I finally recalled the reason for this tragic state.

I don’t know how many days ago, after I met Eugeo and the others in the Mountain Range of the End, I followed them all the time, and then I saw the shocking scene just like them.

Even I, who has always been known as the hero who conquered that floating city "Aincrad", have never seen such a scene.This is also a matter of course. Even though SAO is a deadly game that makes people talk about it, it is only an online game after all. It cannot support such a huge amount of calculation. The number of monsters in the game has already reached the system in the hundreds or thousands. load limit.

As for the "Army of Darkness" in front of them, they are not only huge in number, but at the same time... they are not copied and pasted monsters, they are humans equipped with fluctlights like the residents of Underworld.

That is to say...has the "final stress experiment" that Cardinal spoke of already begun?

"Do you regret it?"

The voice suddenly came from behind, even if I didn't identify it, I knew its owner. After all, she is the only one who can talk to me in this world now.

"The inhabitants of the Dark Territory are about to pass through the "Gate of the East" and start a war on the peaceful Underworld, but you can't even pick up a sword and fight. "Administrator hovered beside me, her voice, which was so beautiful that it could not exist in the human world, stabbed my soul like a poisonous sting at this moment: "It's okay for little Alice, the one you saved with all your efforts , that child’s body is about to be crushed into pieces, this time, you can only watch helplessly.”

But even I won't always do what she wants, I didn't answer, I just silently watched the two who had already joined the battlefield.

"Or...do you think that no matter how many replacements for that child can be made, it doesn't matter if he dies here?"

I stared sideways at her for a long while, and finally sighed: "There is no need to conceal it... It is only natural that you can see through his real body."

I didn't understand it when I first met Eugeo, but after so long, I finally thought of the reason why Integrity Knight Eugeo can appear here.

Under the circumstances at that time, it was absolutely impossible for Eugeo to survive. Of course, he did not "survive" now.The power of mind can do almost everything in this Underworld, but it cannot bring the dead back to life.

At that time, I could only helplessly watch Eugeo's destiny go to zero, and my heart was filled with unparalleled regret.

Why can't I fight instead of him?

Why can't I make a proper plan before confronting the Administrator?

Why did I bring him to the central capital and put him in such danger?

Why... can't everything start over?

The regret of not being able to save Eugeo and the desire to meet him again can't distort time and space and bring me back to the moment when I met Eugeo under "Gigaxstar", but it is the lowest in the gap of time Stolen back as much of his data as possible.

The current him is a replica of the Integrity Knight Eugeo who was 10 minutes before the decisive battle with the Administrator, not so much a body, but a state.Now he is not even stored in the Lightcube, the power of my mind is the carrier that maintains his existence.

If you use an easy-to-understand example, Eugeo is now like a copied file in a USB flash drive. The system can read it, but it cannot write it to the hard drive. Once the USB flash drive is ejected, it will immediately Disappear from this world.That USB flash drive is the power of my mind, that is——imagination. If my obsession with Eugeo disappears or weakens a little, the Eugeo in front of me may no longer exist.

In other words, as long as my imagination remains, no matter how many times this body dies, the integrity knight Eugeo at that moment will reappear.

But there is no doubt that I will never allow such a thing to happen.

Administrator flew in front of me and observed my expression with great interest: "Are you really not worried at all? This really surprised me."

"Worried?" I raised my head and looked directly into her eyes: "Alice is an integrity knight who is second only to Bercouli in strength, and Eugeo is a "swordsman" who was taught by me and is stronger than me. They Yes... definitely won't lose. "

Worrying is useless. I can hardly do anything now. Worrying will only hinder calm thinking and make it impossible to save people who could have been saved... I have experienced such things too many times. If I can still If I use "powerless" as an excuse, then I am too hopeless.

Eugeo, who shuttles across the battlefield holding the "Sword of the Night Sky", and Alice, who is guarding him with the "Sword of Fragrant Osmanthus", are really noble and dazzling in such a posture, whether they are artificial fluctLights, Whether it's a "fake" or not, that's the only thing that's unquestionable.

They are the only miracles that can only be born in the Underworld and have never been polluted by reality.

The two faced tens of thousands, even if both of them were Integrity Knights with artifacts, it was too reluctant after all.If I can fight with them... If I can use my power to save them from harm, no matter how many times I am willing to stand in front of them with my sword, that is happiness like a dream for me .

Before I knew it, I had come to the center of the battlefield, Eugeo and Alice had reached their limits, and the hunting net of the Army of Darkness was gradually tightening.However, Eugeo persistently raised his sword again, the sword that was connected with my blood and brought me victory several times.

Almost without thinking, I rushed over and grabbed his sword-holding hands.It is up to me to become the "bridge", even if there is no entity, even if they cannot hear my voice, but this "mind" still exists, if I can connect Eugeo and "Night Sky Sword", then this Again, it will definitely fight for Eugeo!

……

What happened after that, I have no idea.But since I lost consciousness, my power, my thoughts must have been conveyed.

"You finally woke up."

The voice of the Administrator sounded at the right time, and my leisurely memory time was over.

"Um...how are Alice and Eugeo doing?" I knew I had made a mistake asking the question, but right now I was eager to find out the situation, so I could only turn to her for help.

"Alive, and the Army of Darkness has also retreated." She replied, "But you... are quite dangerous."

After hearing what he said, I immediately looked down at my body, the light on my body became darker, and there were more transparent parts than before, but now I don’t feel pain, so even if it becomes like this, I don’t have any special feelings .

"You almost became the "memory" of the sword. "

"The "memory" of the sword? ’ I repeated her words.

"An artifact originally only has one "memory", but if it absorbs human fluctlight, it is possible to obtain a second memory.I believe you can fully understand that the weapons made by the human soul are far stronger than those born naturally, right? "

"..."

How could I forget... Eugeo turned into a sword to fight against the "Sword Giant" created by Administrator, and was cut off by her in the end.

She looked at me with a smile on her face, as if she was expecting my anger and hatred, but this time she might still be disappointed. I stared at her and smiled back: "Thank you, Miss Quinella."

"Oh?"

"Thank you for reminding me, I already know where Eugeo's soul is."

"..."

After saying this, I immediately turned around and flew towards Rulid Village.In my current state, I can hardly do anything, so if I find something I can do, I will act immediately.

At this point I don't know what I'm doing, but there's no question that I'm taking what may be the most important opportunity of my life.

4.

I rushed through the cave to Rulid Village as fast as I could.

Maybe it's because I used the "Night Sky Sword" to activate the full armament control technique again, maybe it's because it wants to turn me into its "memory", all in all, a subtle connection has been established between me and it.

Searching for the breath, I quickly found it in the hut in Rulid Village, and the real purpose of my trip - the broken "Blue Rose Sword" was naturally next to it, kept by my body .

After saying hello to Eugeo and Selka beside me, I touched the "Blue Rose Sword" without hesitation. As I guessed, the sword does not exclude the entry of souls, and it may be very easy to leave from it. Difficult, but there is no big obstacle to get in.

I tried my best to suppress the anticipation in my heart.

I know, I'm afraid.

I can't imagine how desperate I would be if I couldn't meet Eugeo.

If I expect too much, that kind of despair may directly defeat my fluctlight.

No, I can't break down, and I don't have time to despair.If Eugeo is not here, I will look for it elsewhere. Even after hundreds or thousands of years, even after countless civilizations have changed, I must find him.

Although the lifespan of human fluctlights is very short, if I don't think about other things and only take finding Eugeo as my sole purpose, then I believe that I will be able to last longer and longer.

The interior of the "Blue Rose Sword" is a rather huge plain made entirely of ice.The ground is covered with crystal clear ice roses and crystal icicles.This is enough to be called an intoxicating scenery, but it is too lonely and deserted.

I can't see the edge of the ice field on my left, right, and back, but only in front of me is a hideous cliff, and beyond the cliff is a darkness that seems to choose someone to devour.The reason for this situation is self-evident, and I suppressed my heartache and walked towards the edge of the cliff.

Maybe because this place itself is an illusory space, I am not in the state of a ghost here, so I can only walk forward step by step with my feet.Although it is very inconvenient, at least I can avoid the tragedy of letting Eugeo see my fluctlight, and I am grateful for that.

I don't know how long I walked on the ice field, but I finally saw "that" - a huge round platform surrounded by dense ice roses.I couldn't control myself, and immediately ran forward with all my might.Although I could see it, it was quite a distance away from the round platform. My physical strength was rapidly exhausted during the running, but I had no time to stop and rest.

I want to see him, and I don't want to wait even for a moment, as long as this body can still move, as long as this soul is not exhausted, even if it's just a second earlier, I also want to go to his side!

I fell down countless times and got up again, as if this masochistic behavior could pay off and increase my chances of seeing him, sad and stupid, but it was the only way I could do it.

It wasn't until now that I realized that Eugeo's place in my heart was far more important than what I knew.

From the moment I lost him, my time stopped, my life without him was meaningless, and I would never get used to the days and nights of not seeing him again.

I kept repeating his name in my heart. Even though I was no longer faster than walking, I still didn't stop running. I don't know how long it took before I finally came to the round platform. From where did I get the last strength to rush up the steps, and finally in the center of the round platform, on a crystal clear ice bed, I saw lying quietly on it—the only true friend of my life.

"Eugeo——!"

5.

Trembling, I walked to his side and stared at his sleeping face for a long time, but I couldn't make a sound anymore.

This world has always been too cruel to me, and for a moment I couldn't believe it was reality.Did I actually see him?Am I really allowed to meet him again?

The long-lost pain all over my body made me clearly realize that this was not a dream, but I didn't dare to take a step forward. I was afraid that once I touched him, everything would be broken in an instant.

"Eugeo..." I tentatively called out.

The next moment, tears overflowed from my eyes uncontrollably, and I finally couldn't help but burst into tears.

I rushed forward and hugged him, but I didn't dare to use too much force. In this cold world, Eugeo's body is extremely warm. This kind of warmth is exactly what I want to seek even if I die.

"Eugeo...Eugeo!" I buried my head in his neck, tears soaked his clothes instantly: "Eugeo...wake up! Wake up, okay?"

I felt the slender but not thin body in my arms tremble slightly, I let him go, put my hands on his shoulders and stared at his face.

Finally, he slowly opened his eyes, and those emerald green pupils gradually focused, blooming a brilliance that I miss so much.

"Kirito...?"

"...Eugeo." I said his name in my already hoarse voice.

"Kirito, you...why are you here?"

I hugged him again: "Eugeo, great... great! I... finally found you, I finally... saw you again."

"Kirito..." He gently hugged me back, and I felt his silent tears falling on me: "I didn't expect... so I can still see you."

In fact, I have a lot to say, and I want to complain about a lot of things, but at this moment, I don't want to say anything, I just want to hug him quietly.

I completely understand why Cardinal has paid so much, just hoping to get a hug from human beings. This kind of warmth is really too beautiful and too extravagant. This is a privilege that only belongs to human beings. All good things fill the general.If time can stay at this moment, I am willing to pay any price to exchange.

We hugged silently for a long time before Eugeo finally woke me up.

"Kirito, why on earth did you appear here..." He looked at me with worry in his eyes.

This is also a matter of course. This is a place that only souls can reach. If we switch identities and Eugeo came here to find me, I'm afraid I can't help calling him an idiot.

"I'm here for you, Eugeo," I replied, "I'm going to take you out, back to me and Alice."

Eugeo's eyes suddenly dimmed: "But I'm dead, Kirito, my soul has nowhere to go. This is the price I have to pay for the power to fight, Kirito... I can't leave here."

I shook my head vigorously: "Eugeo, there is no such rule. If a certain god made such a rule, then I will defeat him. Didn't we make an agreement a long time ago? Three people should be born together , and die together.”

"But Alice is gone." Eugeo's pupils revealed deep sadness.

"She's still there!" I said loudly, "Even without memory, she's still there, she's still strong and beautiful. Eugeo, I've forgotten you, but I'm still me, no matter what happens No matter how many times, I will still come to save you, and I will never give up."

"Kirito..." Eugeo lowered his head, "You can always take a step forward without hesitation. I have always been hiding behind you."

Just as I was about to refute, he raised his hand to stop me.

"When I was fighting against the Giant of Swords, I thought I had grown up, but I was still escaping after all, and I was easily defeated by self-blame." After finishing speaking, Eugeo raised his head and looked directly at me: "If you think I If it is allowed to continue to live, I am willing to believe in you, no matter what the consequences will be, I will bear it with you.”

I have experienced Eugeo's stubbornness a long time ago. I thought he would reject me. I even thought about using myself as a hostage to force him to leave with me, but he agreed.

But then I understood the reason for his answer. He was still thinking about me after all. He didn't want me to bear the despair of losing my best friend, so even if he broke his peace and rewritten his desired ending, he still accommodated me. capricious.

It is because I have been supported by him and every companion I have met since "Aincrad".

Eugeo looked around and frowned slightly: "However... it's not that easy to get out from here... Kirito, you're always like this, you should say you're reckless...or too confident."

"As long as I'm with you, I'm omnipotent." I said seriously.

"There's nothing I can do about you." Eugeo sighed, and finally held out his hand to me with a smile.

TBC