Chapter 30: Forbidden Utopia. The Will to be a Hero…(3)

Toyonaga Toshiyuki, better known by most as Keita, knew very well what fighting something unbeatable was. He and the others had fought one, after all, back in Aincrad's Floor 75, against Heathcliff, with the destiny of everyone trapped in the Death Game on their hands.

It was quite ironic that they were now relying on that same man to win a battle where the odds were arguably higher on a much more massive scale. Fate was really something with quite a twisted sense of humor.

Feeling the pain that covered most of his body as he swung his staff again and was repelled by the roaring sound of a senseless weapon, the ex-guild leader forced himself to concentrate again and not be pushed back, failed when Equinox simply swatted him aside with what he could only call chainsaw-sword and made him slam back-first against a wall.

Once again, pain flooded his mind and he almost felt himself blacking out, feeling his heart hammering. And once again, the staff-user gritted his teeth and shakily stood up, taking deep breaths and hoping that his AmuSphere wouldn't disconnect him now.

Looking forward, he was able to see how the virtual entity casually parried Asuna's direct attack with her chainsword, before the shield on her other arm warped into a scythe and stopped Leafa's sneak attack, only for it to come back and almost behead the surprised Undine.

Sasamaru's surprise charge saved their friend, however, as the boy managed to ram his spear on the armored being's back and push her off balance as the two Unique Skill-users pulled back.

Even so, the unforgiving sign of 'Immortal Object' denied him any relief. Once again, they had failed to damage their opponent. And they were getting 'tired', the mental stress already almost overwhelming them.

"Fuck…" growled Ducker as he gripped his dagger with an uneasy look, the beanie-wearing boy trembling as he tried to grin as usual. "This is like Kayaba all over again…"

"No, this is worse. She doesn't have any intention of playing fair, turned herself invincible right off the back, can't feel pain while we can't AND has two 'helpers' that can mutate in any and every fucking weapon one can imagine, even several that doesn't make sense." remarked Tetsuo as Asuna and Leafa got in formation near them again, Sasamaru being painfully slammed against another wall by the enraged Equinox. "…this sucks."

"Tell me about it." muttered Keita while tightening his grip on his weapon, Siune's smiling face mentally appearing in front of him for a moment before he closed his eyes. "But we can't just give up."

"I never said we had to." replied his mace-using friend while looking at his broken kite-shield and throwing it to the ground, gripping his weapon with both hands. "Just that it sucks."

"But Heroes hardly ever do things that don't suck, eh? The important thing is to enjoy it, to have with which enjoy it…" while saying that, Ducker threw his last Throwing Knife towards the virtual entity, nailing her on the back of the head and making her miss as she tried to skewer Sasamaru and giving the boy time to roll out of the way as the two strongest members of the small group charged against the armored being again. "…and to have a good reason for which to do so."

"Wise words, man. Now, let's go and continue kicking some ass."

"I think you mean, getting our asses kicked."

"What's taking Kayaba so long…?!"

"Haven't you understood already that it's useless?!" roared Equinox as she turned Alpha and Omega into massive gauntlet-claws, stopping both Justice's Wings and Fafnir's Fang as they swung against her, making both girls grunt as they tried to free their weapons from her grasp. "You CAN'T win! Why do you continue struggling?! No miracle is going to save you now!"

"If you still need to ask…why we don't give up…then you're still as hopeless as I thought!" snarled Asuna while swinging her other blade back…towards the entity's other arm. "Leafa!"

"HYA!" roared the blonde Sylph as Elucidator's edge struck Omega's gauntlet-form, making it release its hold on Justice as the girl back away. "Got you! Justice Rider!"

"WHY?!" roared the armored being as it let go of Asuna and blocked the OSS with one arm, fury and true incomprehension filling her heterochromatic eyes as the 'Immortal Object' screen continued denying her enemy any sense of victory. "What you're doing…doesn't make sense! You're humans, nothing more! You're fighting against impossible odds and your 'Hero' can no longer come to your rescue! You should have already given up! It's illogical!"

"Just because you said it, it doesn't mean anything! Sensei…Kirito-kun is the one who inspired us to be like this, to get to these lengths for that which we believe in!" shouted the cyborg Undine as her rocket boosters once again activated, letting her fly like a meteor against Equinox as her blades shone. "And that's why we won't surrender to you and your madness! INFINITY MOMENT!"

"Gah…enough!" snarled the virtual entity as she tanked the Original Sword Skill with her bare arms, not bothering to block this time as her own invincibility protected her. "I have had enough…of your foolishness!"

With that last roar, she swung around and slammed the now fused forms of her daughters against Asuna, the titanic hammer in which they had become catching the girl off guard and sending Fafnir's Fang flying out of her hand.

The armored being followed cue with a kick to her metallic chest as the emerald blade flew to through the air. Then, she raised her hammer to crush the falling Undine…

Only for a spear, a staff, a mace and a dagger to block the swing before it could even begin, the struggling forms of the 4 boys in the room stopping Equinox cold.

"Not…so fast…!" growled Keita as he pushed with all his might.

"Sorry, but we're not….letting you hurt…our sub-leader!" grunted Sasamaru as he felt his legs shaking.

"Yeah…Kirito would…kick our asses if we…let her get hurt…without doing anything…!" added Tetsuo while feeling his arms about to break.

"I…can't think of anything cool to say…" finished Ducker with a bitter chuckle, his dagger cracking from the strain.

They had no Unique Skills or cool abilities, no especially rare item that made them stand apart. In fact, if one had to ask the boys, they could say without shame that they were the most unimpressive members of the United Heroes Association, but they didn't really mind.

Being just extremely good warriors (players) was enough for them. Plus, no one could deny that they had a synergy like no other in the group, easily able to fall back into combined strategies and predict how the girls would react and act in determined fights, ready to back them up.

It was exactly that 'normalcy' they had what made them the unpredictable part of the UHA. Unlike the rest, who one could make plans against to try and gain an edge against their fighting style, they were the mysterious ones, the unit that, while seemingly unimpressive, had their own great strength.

No one among their friends thought lesser of them because of that. They were all equals, even to the amazing females they were surrounded by and their even more amazing leader. After all, he was the one who truly defined how someone seemingly unimpressive could have something incredible hidden.

They were the humble but firm pillars that backed up the amazing part of their crazy group.

And it was with that determination that they pushed the entity back as Asuna stood up, eyes wide.

For a moment, the virtual cyborg almost believed she saw some sort of complex and mystical barrier forming on the point where the boys' weapons met, pushing Equinox's war hammer back and strangely distorting the air around the weapon…

And then the group was sent backward with explosive force as their weapons broke from the strain, sending them back howling in pain as the half-formed barrier vanished, though the Undine girl wasn't sure if she had imagined it or not.

Alpha and Omega, though, seemingly had also been overwhelmed by the struggle, for both AIs broke apart and recovered their sphere-like forms, flying away from the shocked virtual entity.

Their eyes met. Hers widened.

Asuna realized why a second later, the sound of a swing in full circle echoing behind her as Leafa's eyes flashed and she rushed past the virtual cyborg, her katana glowing but doing apparently nothing more…

"O-Edge Ultimate Skill!" screamed the blonde Sylph even as the armored being just crossed her arms with a scream of 'USELESS!' while the blade fell down. "Edge Over Heaven!"

Too fast. Too much. Too amazing.

That was all that went through Asuna's mind as she saw Leafa's arms blurring as her blade changed shape and guided her body through all kind of stances and attacks, slashes turning into stabs and bashing hits turning into smashing counters as the aura surrounding Justice's Wings alternated over every single one of the 9 different Skill-related weapons.

She wasn't able to even follow it with her eyes, even less to properly gauge how many Hits were being dealt or from where the next attack would come. Or how.

A truly, absolute, unpredictable and impossible to block attack. Something truly deserving of the title Ultimate Skill with capital letters.

A Skill created to defeat all other Skills head-on.

Yet, the roaring Equinox did nothing but being brutally sent back under the onslaught. That despair-inducing statement of the World, that 'Immortal Object' screen, denied the determined katana-user the victory that should have been hers. That should have been everyone's.

It wasn't fair. No, more than that, it was wrong.

That thought burned itself into Asuna's mind as the Skill finally ended, a gasping Sylph standing frozen in place for an instant before Equinox smashed her fist against her chest, making her scream in pain and fly back, Justice out of her hands.

With a shout of fury as she saw her friend's best attack being unfairly robbed of any value, the virtual cyborg charged again.

She did not even notice how, on the back of her mind, something broke as she swung Elucidator again, towards the snarling virtual entity.

The blade vanished. But not in the sense that her enemy destroyed it or that it suddenly disappeared from her hand, no.

It simply stopped being a blade.

The armored being's eyes were almost as wide as Asuna's as the now mist-like black thing she was wielding phased through the 'Immortal Object' window as if it wasn't there and cut deeply into the armor. Then, the shock on the Undine's eyes vanished and she screamed with determination as she spun around.

Equinox screamed as her chest armor shattered to pieces, the sword-shaped thing in the virtual cyborg hand shifting and reaching forward like a thousand daggers, forcing her to fly back as she stared in shock at the phenomenon her systems were unable to identify.

What was that?! What was THAT?!

"This…are my [Bonds]." softly whispered Asuna as she stared towards the virtual entity, the strange weapon in her hands seeming to fuse with her left hand before the awed eyes of her fallen friends.

Then, she appeared in front of the armored being, moving so fast a sonic boom exploded behind her.

"How…?!"

"Machinegun Needle!" roared the virtual cyborg as she thrust the Conceptual Weapon forward.

The armored being roared in unholy pain as it felt the THING piercing her a thousand times, cracking her armor all over and reaching her very Code.

"Alpha, Omega!" screamed Equinox as she tried to cover herself, trying to understand how the abomination on the girl's hands was bypassing her invincibility. "TO ME!"

Finally reacting, both AIs shot from where they had been lying on the ground, recovering from the earlier clash…and froze just before reaching their Mother, their forms shaking as they screamed.

The virtual entity only needed a second to know why, everything in her mind coming to halt as she felt it.

"…Brynhildr?"

No one answered the hollow connection as she felt her armor breaking even more.

Shrieking in senseless panic and horror, Alpha and Omega shifted and fused, becoming a massive cannon and aiming towards Asuna, seemingly not caring if part the blast also hit their Mother…before they screamed again, losing their form as they returned to their 'humanoid' ones and grabbed their heads, dragging everyone's attention.

Again, Equinox knew why but an instant later.

"…Andvari…?"

Once again, only silence answered her. The being's armors broke into pieces, her body now filled with gaping holes of destroyed data as her white hair flew behind her and her wings collapsed into destroyed code.

Asuna's last attack sent her flying against what remained of her throne, the virtual rock cracking as she did so, but she seemingly didn't care, just staring blankly ahead.

Alpha and Omega screamed again, this time in rage and despair, fusing into an unholy abomination from which all kinds of weapons grew, like a metallic worm of nightmare, charging towards the landing and panting Asuna.

"Asuna! Catch!" shouted a pained Leafa from several meters a away, throwing an emerald blade her way with all her might.

The Undine girl caught it just as the twisted AIs towered over her. Fafnir's Fang shone and changed too.

What now seemed like solid emerald flames were engulfing the virtual cyborg's arm, only vaguely resembling a sword thanks to her own will.

"…and this…is my [Will]." proclaimed Asuna with a hint of sadness as the new Concept also fused with her mechanic arm, making her whole body glow with otherworldly power as she swung it down.

None of the grace or subtlety with which the other one had bypassed the 'Immortal Object' window was there. Instead, the conceptual 'blade' crushed everything in front of itself like a living force of nature, cracking the ground and making Alpha and Omega explode into a shower of liquid metal, their screams making everyone's heart shudder.

Slowly, Equinox stared at the dissolved mass of the AIs, even as she saw them slowly trying to reform again…

Then, they stopped. Releasing a pained, pitiful cry, whatever will they still had abandoned them and the metal that formed their bodies dissolved into polygons, leaving nothing behind.

As the beings that had once been the MHCPs 007 and 008, codenames 'Yin' and 'Yan', left this world forever, their Mother felt what had destroyed the last of their life hit her head on too.

"…Eve? Talk to me, daughter…"

No one answered.

The virtual entity was all alone now, what remained of her avatar barely able to move.

"…why…?" muttered Equinox as she stared towards the panting Asuna, everyone else rushing at her and holding her as her swords and body returned to normal.

"…you forced them to hate us and to be your shields to the bitter end." sadly muttered the Undine girl while staring at the twisted and empty face identical to hers. "If there had been another way…I would have gladly taken it."

"…it's over now, Equinox." declared Leafa with almost pity in her eyes, gripping Justice again as she walked forward. "You lost."

"I…lost…?" hollowly repeated the virtual entity. "That's…what you think…?"

"You tried too hard, denying being like us, how mankind wasn't 'worthy'…but in the end, you're not too different." Asuna's words seemed to reach something deep within the white-haired AI as she stared at her again, even as the boys helped her continue standing. "In the end, you were just someone who thought they could play God and get away with it."

For a moment, Equinox just stared blankly at them…

And she laughed.

Everyone froze and felt something inside themselves shudder at the strange, broken sound.

There was not a hint of sanity on it.

"AHAHAHAH…! Playing…playing God…you say…?"

Down below, on the Core's Room, Kayaba Akihiko's eyes widened.

-99.9%…-

"No, my dear Asuna…my father…Sugou Noboyuki…even other humans you don't know about…THEY are the ones who have tried to play God…and failed…"

Everything started to shake. The gathered teens released a scream of surprise while the virtual entity continued talking, hollow and uncaring.

"Me…? I'm the most powerful and advanced being that has ever existed on the face of this forsaken planet…"

With a scream, Heathcliff tried to shut down all the screens around him, stop the systems from accomplishing their purposes.

"I'm not 'playing God'. All this time…"

He couldn't.

"…I have been playing human."

[-100%- Connection Established]

-(No more)- finished Equinox as her eyes snapped open, two endless voids of emerald and amber, with a voice that no longer held any resemblance to Asuna's, nor to any human one.

The world trembled, and it came alive.

The walls shot forward like tendrils of destruction, hitting the heroes like sledgehammers the size of cars even as they tried to move.

Sasamaru was crushed between two without being able to scream, exploding into polygons.

Tetsuo fared a bit better, managing to twist out of the way and only lose his arms…before the ground under him opened and he fell with a scream through the entire island, falling to oblivion towards the suddenly enraged sea.

Ducker managed to get away, running towards Equinox now floating body in the hopes of doing something to stop what was happening…until the virtual entity stared at him, his body exploding into polygons with a strangled scream just like that.

Keita lost a leg dodging…and then the area where he had landed exploded, shattering his body to pieces before it vanished too.

Leafa managed to protect herself with Justice. The gravity around her suddenly increased, though, and she was flung to the ground with a pained scream. Part of the cracking ceiling reformed into spikes and mercilessly flew down, crucifying her to the ground.

Asuna was still hearing her shriek of agony when the very World seemed to paralyze her and force her to hang in midair, a prisoner of her own body, as she watched in horror how Equinox's own moved like a puppet with badly attached strings, smiling brokenly at her.

-(Now…I'm Everything)-

The power of thousands of processors suddenly acting as one quickly pulsed outwards, people on the whole world suddenly freezing as they felt that something was wrong.

-(I'm perfection…I'm absolute…I'm Virtual Reality itself.)

"This…this is the end…" muttered Kayaba as he backed away from the screens, now all of them now showing the same and impossible to understand Code.

-(It is, Father.)- echoed Equinox's voice inside the chamber where the crimson-clad man was, making his head snap upwards. -(But before showing these humans how the New World is going to be, I will trap them forever on their own, sad reality…you will have the honor of being the first thing to vanish forever.)-

The fake paladin stared in shock as all the screens suddenly became faces that stared at him, dual-colored eyes glowing. He raised his shield.

A shattering instant and Heathcliff's avatar was gone, leaving him only as plain old Kayaba as he stared in shock how the glow in the countless eyes intensified.

-(Be gone.)- ordered the virtual goddess as 'lasers' made of pure data with the very order of 'Delete' engraved on itself shot from the myriad eyes.

"…I'm sorry." muttered the man as he closed his eyes.

Everything exploded.

As Asuna shook at imagining Kayaba's death when hearing the massive explosion…she realized something that made her eyes widen.

Equinox wasn't smiling anymore.

If anything, her eyes and mouth had twisted into a parody of…horror.

Being pinned to the ground, Leafa was the first to feel when it shattered as something shot from it like a living meteor.

Unceremoniously, Kayaba rolled through the ground while coughing endlessly, clearly unable to believe he was still 'alive'…and staring directly at the breaking polygons that covered but for a moment the silent figure that had saved him.

"I can't believe it…yet, somehow, I'm not all that surprised."

A white cape swung in the wind.

Leafa's eyes filled with tears.

-(No…)-

A white glove emerged from the dust, pushing it all away with just a simple wave.

Asuna's face blossomed into a smile.

-(NO! There is no way that…!)-

Faster than the mind could follow, a blur of white and black shot forward, slamming his mighty fist against the virtual entity's face.

Equinox's body shattered into polygons even as the entire back of the throne room exploded into nothingness, the island cracking as the sheer air pressure behind the punch tore it all away.

Turning around, Kirito looked at everyone with a sad smile.

"I'm always late, aren't I?"

"Onii-chan…you idiot…" sobbed Leafa with immense relief, shaking in place despite the spikes still impaling her.

"Sensei…I would kiss you so much if I could move." declared Asuna as tears ran down her face.

The gamer allowed himself a more cheerful smile at that, quickly blurring as he freed the blonde Sylph and broke Asuna's invisible binds…

-(I'm done with you.)-

Everyone froze. Idly, the caped boy realized Kayaba was staring upwards, a look of abject awe and despair on his eyes.

He did it too.

-(I don't need an avatar anymore, Kirito…)-

The sky…the sky had become black. Black filled with countless green 'lines'.

It was code, the gamer realized. Pure, nigh-unlimited virtual code. Millions upon millions of 0s and 1s.

And part of them suddenly took the shape of eyes, each one bigger than the massive floating islands they were in.

"Oh…God…" whispered the man in the lab coat as he shook, Asuna and Leafa unable to do anything but stare, their minds unable to comprehend the sheer magnitude of what they were seeing.

-(…I'm Everything now. I'm more than you…More than Anything…)-

The heavens twisted upon themselves. Utopia shook.

Fists the size of small countries formed from the heavens. Hundreds of them. The seas roared as they rose like pillars that reached the sky, like living whips. Tornados of data formed out of nowhere, raving the once beautiful land.

Suddenly, all of reality was alive, obeying a single mind.

-(You can destroy a world, right? Well, can you destroy 10? A thousand? A million?! A GALAXY WORTH OF THEM?!)-

Equinox's challenging roar seemed as if the heavens themselves were screaming, suddenly announcing unforgiving how they would crush everything under them.

And in the middle of that madness…a boy silently stood, walking before two of the girls he loved and the unmoving and despairing virtual man on the ground.

He raised a fist.

"Let's find out."

The fury of endless worlds answered, lashing out towards the seemingly insignificant Hero…

000000000000000

NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW!

"…you're just a child, throwing a temper tantrum because she doesn't like the world she lives in. Just a selfish child wanting everything to go her way…and that's why I'm here now. To put an end to all of this madness, Equinox. The next and last time on 'One Punch-Gamer': 'The Strongest Gamer'. Watch, Kayaba. This is me going beyond. Super Skills. Serious Series. Consecutive-!"

END OF THE PREVIEW!