Original subtitles

Under the rule of the absolute Administrator, this world entered a long period of peace and idleness.

But 70 years after Quinella became Administrator,

she became aware that she had undergone some kind of change.

To her astonishment, her soul's capacity for preserving her memories had reached its limit.

But this only drove her to come up with yet another demonic solution.

I appreciate your coming here.

Now, this way.

Yes, ma'am.

If I can copy my own Fluctlight's thoughts and memories by overwriting this child's Fluctlight...

Close your eyes.

And so Administrator, through this diabolical ceremony...

the Synthesis Ritual, a secret technique signifying the fusing of soul and memory,

finally succeeded in seizing control of another's Fluctlight.

But that ended up being Administrator's... no, Quinella's mistake.

Mistake?

That's right.

Because after she'd taken over the young girl, for the split second that she disposed of her previous self,

she and the girl had become two gods wielding equal authority.

Kirito, you're familiar with my original version, are you not?

Tell me the features of the Cardinal System.

Um...

To operate over an extended period of time without any adjustments or maintenance by humans?

Correct.

To achieve that, the Cardinal System has two core programs, a main and sub.

While the main process performs balance controls...

The subprocess does an error-check of the main.

That's right.

It wasn't just the preservation of order Quinella had etched into her own Fluctlight.

Deep inside her soul, I had this thought as her subprocess...

"I must correct this woman's errors."

I... I steadfastly waited for that moment.

For 70 long years!

Ruler and Mediator

And now, this child's Fluctlight is mine.

System Call.

Generate Luminous Element.

Lightning Shape.

Discharge!

What?

System Call!

Generate Luminous Element!

System Call! Generate Umbra Element. Ball Shape!

- Discharge! - Discharge!

System Call! Redefinition Object!

Sword Class!

System Call. Redefinition Object! Rod Class!

System Call! Change Field Attribution!

Impossible.

She made this a restricted area for System Commands?

I can't defeat her in this body.

System Call! Generate Aerial Element!

Stream Shape!

There are just two locations in this world that even Administrator can't control.

One is the other side of the End Mountains.

And the other is...

System Call!

Generate Blizzard Gate... Zero One!

...the Great Library!

In that instant, this place was completely isolated from the outside world.

In the 200 years since, I immersed myself in nothing but observation and deliberation,

working on a plan that would allow me to strike back against Administrator.

But she anticipated my ambush and assembled a retinue of loyal and powerful followers.

Through the Synthesis Ritual, this man will be reborn.

As the ultimate warrior, a Integrity Knight swearing absolute fealty!

The first to become an Integrity Knight

was a true hero known as an extraordinary swordsman who hated the church's rule,

who, with his comrades, made his way to a remote region and founded his own village.

The name of that knight was Bercouli Synthesis One.

Administrator and I are nearly on equal footing in one-on-one combat.

But with the situation changed, it became clear that I also needed a collaborator.

I tried to find that collaborator, no matter the risk.

Each time, I would open a door as far away as possible,

I would cast Sensory Sharing and other arts onto the nearby birds and insects,

and release them all over the world.

See.

Her name is Charlotte.

She's been observing the two of you ever since you left Rulid Village.

From time to time, she did more than just watch.

She guided us when we were running from the Integrity Knight?

Th-That's right!

When all my zephilia buds were cut off, was it you who encouraged me?

Charlotte's the most ancient of the observation units that I enchanted and released into the world.

Her long, long mission is finally coming to an end, now, eh?

Since I froze the degradation of her life, I've had her working for me for more than 200 years.

Thank you.

So you've been searching for a human collaborator while barricaded in this Great Library for over 200 years?

Indeed. But as I observed this world, even I couldn't figure it out.

Why would the gods of the outside world turn a blind eye to the tyranny of this fake god, Administrator?

As I pondered, and referred to the database stored inside the Cardinal System,

I arrived at one conclusion.

That the true god, Rath, doesn't wish for the people of this world to lead happy lives.

Quite the opposite, in fact.

They're observing how the people will resist as they slowly tighten a vise about them.

That load is increasing by the day,

until eventually, the greatest trial of all, the final phase of the load test will arrive.

Final phase?

You know it well yourself... what lies outside the realm of humanity.

The Dark Territory.

Correct. That world of darkness was created to subject the people to the ultimate agony.

The monsters who have Fluctlights like humans, except for their greater impulse to slaughter and plunder.

They can hardly wait to invade the realm of humanity, and commit atrocity upon atrocity.

Most likely, that day isn't too far off.

Is Administrator aware of that?

She underestimates the forces of darkness,

convinced that she and her Integrity Knights alone can repulse them.

She even had the guardian dragons of the north, south, east, and west slain,

despite their valuable fighting power, because she couldn't exert control over them.

But it's not possible for them to defeat the forces of darkness on their own.

Their overall numbers are too few.

But doesn't that mean that whether or not you defeat Administrator,

the path this world is destined to take will stay the same?

That's correct.

At this point, I have no way of stopping the invasion from the Dark Territory.

In other words, once you've attained your objective,

you couldn't care less what happens to this world afterwards?

Is that what you're saying? Cardinal?

Perhaps I am.

However, I...

For having engineered the end of the world...

I will never accept a god like Rath!

Therefore, I arrived at the only possible conclusion.

That I would return the Underworld, both the human realm and the Dark Territory, to nothingness.

Return it... to nothingness?

Just what I said.

I'm going to delete every Fluctlight stored in the Lightcube Cluster.

Of every last resident of both the realms of humanity and darkness.

Kirito.

If, with your help, I'm able to eliminate Administrator, and regain all my authority,

then, before I extinguish this world, I'll grant you a wish, to a degree.

If there are people you'd like to save,

I won't delete their Fluctlights, and leave them archived instead.

I believe it should be possible, after you've escaped to the outside world,

for you to secure the Lightcubes of ten or so.

I... I...

Cardinal.

You just told me that your soul was a copy of Quinella's, right?

Then that means that the pure blood of the nobles flows in your veins as well.

The genes of those who seek their own profit and desires.

So why didn't you abandon everything and try to escape?

Why would you continue to wait alone in a place like this for 200 years?

For me, as the Cardinal subprocess, all profit and all desires amount to just one thing.

Eliminating Administrator and normalizing the world.

In my eyes, a normalized world is no longer possible unless it's returned to complete nothingness.

Therefore... Therefore, I...

No, perhaps I'm wrong.

Even I have a desire. Just one...

In the last 200 years, there was something I was desperate to know.

Hey, Kirito. Stand up, too.

That should do it.

Hey, Kirito, come over here.

Come closer.

No complaining.

Raise both arms.

Like this?

Hold them in front of you and make a circle.

Really! Do I have to spell it out for you?

I see. So this is...

This is what it means to be human, huh?

So warm.

At last, I feel rewarded.

Those 200 years I spent weren't in vain.

Just discovering this warmth is enough to satisfy me.

I feel rewarded... more than enough.

How long are you planning to stand there in a daze?

No way.

So? Have you made a decision?

Are you going to accept my proposal, or reject it?

All right.

I'll take part in your plan. But...

But I'm not going to stop thinking about it.

I'm going to keep searching for a way.

A solution to somehow avoid tragedy and allow this world to survive peacefully.

Geez, what an absurdly optimistic person you are.

After all, I don't want you to disappear, either.

When you tell me to pick ten people, you'll definitely be among them.

And you're also a fool.

Who's going to extinguish this world if I escape?

Hey, I'm just saying that I understand the situation, but I won't give up on struggling in vain!

One day, you too will know the bitterness of giving up.

Not of coming up short after giving your all,

but of being forced to accept the likelihood that you'll fail.

Thanks for waiting!

Sorry we left you on your own.

Kirito! And also, um...

Yeah, this person, Cardinal was banished by the current pontifex, Administrator,

and she used to be another pontifex.

Pontifex?

She's going to help us fight the Integrity Knights.

H-Help?

Yeah, she has a goal to defeat Administrator and regain her status as pontifex.

So... well, I guess that means we're joining forces.

Indeed.

Then do you know if Alice... the Integrity Knight, Alice Synthesis Thirty,

is the same person as Alice Zuberg from Rulid?

I'm sorry, but the information I can access here is extremely limited.

I do know that an Integrity Knight named Alice was indeed born, but...

However, what I can do is tell you how to reverse the Synthesis Ritual for producing Integrity Knights.

How do we do that?

Simply remove the Piety Module embedded in their foreheads.

It looks like a triangular prism.

Like the one we saw...

The Piety Module is inserted in a way that blocks links to memories.

This seals away the past of the person becoming an Integrity Knight,

while simultaneously forcing absolute fealty to the Axiom Church and the pontifex.

In other words, to break the spell we have to jog the Integrity Knight's memories of their past, huh?

That alone wouldn't be enough.

There's one more thing that's absolutely necessary.

Wh-What's that?

What originally existed where the module's been embedded.

In other words, the memory fragment most valued by the Integrity Knight.

Administrator's a cautious woman.

The memory fragments extracted from these knights are without a doubt stored in her chambers...

on the top floor of the Central Cathedral.

You mean...

to restore an Integrity Knight to their former state, we'll need the stolen memory fragment.

But to get our hands on it, we'll have to breach the knights' defenses

and somehow make our way to the top floor where Administrator is.

Don't be so naive as to think you can defeat an Integrity Knight without killing them.

The most I can do for you is to provide you with equipment equal to that of the Integrity Knights.

The rest depends on whether you're able to fight your best.

But what if Alice is the one who shows up?

I can't bring myself to fight her.

I came all this way to get Alice back!

Indeed. You have a point.

Eugeo, I understand your goal.

Fine. Should Integrity Knight Alice be the one standing in your way, then use this.

What is it?

Whoever is stabbed with this dagger will be linked to me by an inseverable connection.

Meaning that any sacred arts I use will affect her without fail.

Eugeo, use this to stab anywhere on Integrity Knight Alice's body.

In that instant, I'll send Alice into a deep sleep using my sacred arts.

Until you've regained her memories and are prepared to remove the Synthesis.

Understood. If I can't talk sense into Alice, I'll use this.

I originally created it to use against Administrator,

and kept another one as a spare, but well... if you can succeed on your first try, it should be fine.

That's a huge responsibility.

What you just said, "equipment equal to that of the Integrity Knights," did you mean...

You and Eugeo have your own powerful swords, don't you?

I'm going to help you get them back.

You mean my Blue Rose Sword and Kirito's black one?

I'm quite certain that your swords are being stored in the armory on the third floor of the cathedral.

By the way, what floor are Administrator's chambers on?

The Central Cathedral grows by the year, so...

it should've reached 100 floors by now.

Unfortunately, there's one more thing you need to do.

Wh-What is it?

I know you two have powerful swords,

but that alone won't be enough to bring down the Integrity Knights.

That's because they have the terrifying technique of amplifying their weapons' abilities multiple times.

Do you mean the Perfect Weapon Control Art?

Weapons of the Divine Object class take on the properties of the object they're fashioned from.

By fully releasing a weapon's memories, so to speak,

the Perfect Control Art realizes offensive powers more potent than normally possible.

Both of you close your eyes and think of your sword.

All right, that's enough.

There.

Memorize that thoroughly.

Eugeo... and Kirito.

The fate of the world rests on you.

Whether it's engulfed in hellfire, or sinks into nothingness.

Or perhaps you'll find a third path.

I've told you all that I can tell,

and given you all that I can give.

All you have to do now is follow the path you believe in.

Thank you very much, Ms. Cardinal.

I'll definitely get to the top of the cathedral

and restore Alice back to who she was.

Now...

Go!

Next time: The Crimson Knight.