Kirito: Limitless Data Across Infinite Worlds

**CLUNK—PSHHH...**

The elevator door slid open with a deep metallic hiss as it stopped on the lowest level, hidden beneath the castle's foundations.

**Tap—TAC—tac**

Agmar stepped out quickly, his firm footsteps echoing against the stone floor. The pressure in his chest was not fear... it was instinct. Something inside him told him he should not linger.

Before him lay a room, dimly lit by amber lights embedded in the walls, still operational thanks to emergency battery systems.

In the center, ten inhuman-looking sculptures rose in concentric circles: thin, elongated figures with symmetrical, hunched bodies. Each held two curved metallic machetes, and their angular faces bore sixteen eyes arranged like a spider's, projecting an impossible vigilance. Beneath their closed lips, sharp fangs peeked out as if containing a hungry laugh.

**Tap—TAC—tac**

Agmar advanced without hesitation to position himself at the heart of the central circle. There, on the floor, ancient symbols were drawn, indecipherable to most... but not to him. He knew exactly what he had to do.

The sculptures surrounded him…

**¡Huummm!**

He raised his hands. Then, with a deep, guttural voice laced with an arcane echo, he uttered a ritual command.

**¡Zium! ¡Zium!**

**¡Fwump!**

His palms began to form a dark sphere on each, charged with elemental energy. He threw them accurately into the center of the circle.

**THHRRRMMM—VVRRR…**

The ground trembled.

**Crrrk—**

**Shlllk... Shlllk...**

The engraving darkened immediately, and the patterns traced in the stone began to move, twisting like tentacles of living ink.

**VHHMMMM—Ssshhh...**

From the center of the seal, a black fog emerged like a conscious vapor, slithering through the air in thin, vibrant, almost living threads.

**Tzzzt… tzzzt…**

Each strand moved with surgical precision toward the nostrils and crevices of the sculptures.

**HhhhUUUUUURRR…**

The creatures inhaled in unison. A sound that did not come from lungs…

But from underground caverns swallowing a cursed wind, as if they had been waiting for that breath for centuries.

… … …

A horrible silence.

Then, the transformation began.

**CRACK—CRSHH—TCHH...**

The sculptures cracked with a sound of hardened skin breaking. But they did not shatter. The outer layers peeled away like burned shells, revealing beneath living flesh, taut muscles, and dark textures that glistened under the dim light like wet leather.

The statues no longer existed. Only emaciated forms remained.

One opened its jaw without making a sound.

**Crrrrk—Snap**

Another turned its neck one hundred eighty degrees before aligning it again. All, in unison, focused their multiple bright red eyes on Agmar.

He did not explain anything to them. It was unnecessary. They were made only to obey their summoner without hesitation. He simply gave them an order:

—"Follow me and protect me. No one must stand in my way."

—"..."

The emaciated forms did not respond. They only moved, like a shadow divided into ten bodies.

**Sshhhhh…**

Agmar turned his back on them confidently. And they followed him.

**KRRSH—KSHH—CLINK…**

The metal of the machetes brushed against each other with every step they took.

**TAC… TAC… TAC…**

**TAC… TAC… TAC…**

And together, they began to advance toward the escape tunnel ahead, where darkness had yet to decide whom to serve that night…

**Tac—Tac—TAC—TAC…**

Agmar moved at a quick pace, his boots resonating against the stone floor like a deep countdown.

And behind him, ten pairs of bestial feet replicated that rhythm, each with its own dull echo in the dim light of the tunnel.

**KRSH—TUMP—CLINK…**

**KRSH—TUMP—CLINK…**

The lights were dim: linear tubes embedded in the walls, flickering with a low electric hum, as if pulsing to the rhythm of his quickening heart.

**Zzzzt… zzt…**

Then they reached the first crossroads.

Seven tunnels, dark and angular, opened before him like claws carved in stone… each equally oppressive as the last.

But Agmar, leading the march, did not hesitate.

—"Third way."

He turned without doubt, and the emaciated forms followed him in unison, silently, as if they were a multiple but indivisible shadow.

A few meters later: another fork.

Seven exits. He chose the sixth.

And so he continued:

Seven crossings. Seven decisions.

Twin tunnels, silent, treacherous.

But Agmar did not get lost.

This labyrinth was not created for him… it was created by his lineage.

The imperial family had designed it centuries ago to disorient pursuers, to erase traces in the bowels of the earth.

And he, as the legitimate heir, knew it by heart.

Today… he used it to flee.

**Thok… Thok… Thok…**

The sounds of their march began to muffle as the walls opened into a new chamber.

The last choice led him into a wide and silent room, illuminated by circular panels embedded in the ceiling, casting a neutral, almost surgical light.

In the center rested an elongated, aerodynamic craft, with a structure similar to the mecha-dragons… but thinner, darker, deadlier.

Absolute black, designed for stealth.

An evacuation specter.

The craft pointed directly toward a gigantic door leading to a wide, straight tunnel, long as a contained sigh: the escape route that would take him kilometers beyond the territory. Out of the reach of the siege. Far from the crumbling castle.

Agmar turned with disdain toward the emaciated forms that followed him and, in a dry tone, ordered:

—"Stay here and watch the entrance."

**Grnn**

**Grnn**

They only growled in response. A guttural, brief sound that, in their mute language, was compliance.

**Toc... Toc... Toc...**

Then Agmar approached the controls embedded in a metal column.

**Beep, Beep, Beep**

 He entered the code.

The system responded without delay:

**TCHK—VRRRMMMM...**

**Whoooosh...**

The enormous front door began to open slowly, allowing the contained air in the tunnel to rush inward with a deep, ancient echo.

Agmar watched the process without emotion. He did not smile. He did not sigh.

But for the first time that night… he felt a glimmer of relief.

**Beep, Beep, Beep**

He activated the controls again to execute a new command.

**Clank**

**Zzzzzt**

From the ground of the platform emerged a hidden mechanism. A dry buzz preceded the appearance of a metal ladder, which slowly rose to the level of the cockpit.

**Clink—Clink—Clink**

Without wasting time, Agmar quickly ascended the metal ladder.

**Shhhk—Fump**

He opened the pilot's hatch and entered the cockpit. He dropped into the seat with a mix of fatigue and resolve.

For a moment, he allowed himself to believe he was safe.

But upon touching the controls to initiate the ignition…

**¡Bwoop!**

An audible alert resonated briefly, and all the screens flickered.

**Fzzzt**

…before shutting down immediately.

—"Damn it... It doesn't matter... I just have to restart everything and do it manually..."

He reassured himself quietly, convinced that he could still impose order on the chaos of that night.

But the time for technical maneuvers… had run out.

Because then he heard it.

**GRRRRHHK—RRRRRR...**

A guttural, synchronized, animal sound.

It did not come from the tunnel.

It came from behind.

The emaciated forms.

Agmar could distinguish when an alert was mechanical and when it was organic.

And this…

Was pure warning.

Their bodies were tense. The swords raised.

The sixteen eyes of each fixed on the opposite entrance of the room.

**Crrrk**

Agmar slowly turned.

The feeling he had been trying to repress all night finally took shape.

...

He was not alone.

His pursuer… had arrived.

**GRRRRHHK...**

**GRRRRHHK...**

The ten emaciated forms growled in unison.

Not out of protocol. Out of real threat.

… ...

**Toc**

Agmar finally saw him. He entered with a single step.

**Shhh...**

A figure cloaked from head to toe in a dark robe, as if devoured by the very shadows of the castle. The hood obscured his face almost completely but revealed sharp, blue eyes like blazing sapphires, shining with absolute resolve.

The mouth covered. The voice still hidden.

**Ting**

But in his right gloved hand, he already held a drawn sword. Not a common one.

The gleam of the steel was pure, polished, almost sacred.

Without adornments. Without symbols. But it spoke for itself.

He carried no other weapons.

No armor.

No projectiles.

And yet…

his mere presence was enough.

**Toc—Toc**

The stranger stopped a few meters from the emaciated forms, which had already fanned out in a defensive semicircle, ready, tense…

Waiting for just a command from Agmar to tear the intruder apart.

But he barely lifted his chin, just enough for his voice to resonate in the room.

—"Emperor Agmar. For conspiracy against the peace of the Realm… you are under arrest. Surrender without resistance."

The voice was deep, young, without a trace of doubt.

And it confirmed what Agmar had already intuited from his bearing:

He was a man.

An executor.

A rival.

The emperor furrowed his brow. The relief of escape faded like smoke blown by the wind.

**Tac**

With no clear alternative, he stepped out of the cockpit and stood over the fuselage of the craft, looking down condescendingly at the hooded figure…

only to maintain some composure when responding:

—"Who are you?"

**Clack**

It was as if he spat the words.

But his hands tensed, one already groping for the rifle at his back.

He knew this… would not end peacefully.

Agmar observed his eyes. That posture of confidence. That sword from another time…

And, above all, the ability to have remained hidden until the last second.

Then he understood.

—"It was you… you destroyed my systems. You shut down the security. You dismembered my castle as if you had planned it yourself."

**Shiiing**

The figure did not move.

He only lowered the blade slightly to the side and responded firmly, as if his hypothesis required no defense:

—"Your network broke from within, Agmar. It does not matter how. Only that all this ends here and now..."

Agmar let out a dry laugh, tainted with rage and disbelief, and arrived at a new assumption about his identity:

—"You are one of the Integrity Knights, aren't you? Did you awaken one of the ancient sleepers of the Cathedral… just to come for me?"

He pointed disdainfully at the sword.

—"That blade… looks like a relic from antiquity. I bet it even sings upon contact, like the ones in the old myths."

**Toc**

The figure took a single step forward.

His voice rumbled like a sentence handed down:

—"You can believe that if it gives you comfort. But I am not a myth. I am your end..."

**GRRR...**

**GRRR...**

The esmirros lowered their bodies slightly, like wolves ready to pounce.

… ...

And the air... stopped moving.

Agmar raised his voice with tempered fury:

—"I will break that sword… and your fantasy of stopping me, knight Integrity!"

And then he gave the order that the esmirros had been waiting for.

—"Attack and kill him at once!"

**GRRRRRHHHAAAARRR!**

**GRRRRRHHHAAAARRR!**

The esmirros roared in unison, a guttural chant of steel and fury, and launched themselves like a pack of blades, their bodies synchronized, machetes descending from all angles.

**Shiiing-Shiiing-Shiiing-Shiiing-Shiiing!**

**Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!**

The intruder... did not move.

**Fzzzt—Fzzzt—Fzzzt—fzzzt—fzzzt—**

With his left hand —free and gloved— he formed five cores of bluish energy in his fingers.

Small orbs of pure ice, cryogenic, spinning with a crisp vibration, like singing crystals.

**Fhzzz—BZT—CRACK!**

**Fhzzz—BZT—CRACK!**

He fired all five at once, with the naturalness of someone who has done it a thousand times.

The five elemental lights flew straight to the first esmirros leading the assault.

Impact on: left joint. Right shoulder. Inner elbow. Wrist. Central tendon.

**TCHHRK—SKRASSHH—KRK!**

Their arms froze tight as frozen steel, halted mid-motion.

The machetes, anchored in ice, were now useless.

But the esmirros did not stop.

Their eyes still burned with the intent to kill.

**Shiiing-Shiiing-Shiiing-Shiiing-Shiiing!**

With their other active arms, they raised the twin blades, coordinating attacks from crossed, lateral, and descending positions.

**WHHHMMM—KRRRNNK!**

It was then that the man's sword glowed in sky blue, and the very air vibrated, as if the world recognized what was about to happen... and Agmar, from where he was, understood it too: it was a sword skill. Seeing its power and the intense color, he knew it was of extreme quality.

**ZRRRRRRM—WHUUM!**

The celestial aura traced an expansive arc around the mysterious figure.

And then, he moved.

It was not a step.

It was a fracture of the air.

A blue flash piercing through the five attackers like a surgical lightning bolt.

In a single blink, the sword struck five times, with absolute precision on the still-functioning arms:

**CLINK—**

- Strike one: cut the blade mid-descent, also severing the forearm.

**SHHK—**

- Strike two: intercepted from below, breaking the weapon in the center.

**TZAK—**

- Strike three: twisted with lateral speed, tearing the machete from the opponent.

**KRASH—THRRM**

- Strikes four and five: a double cross that pulverized the last raised blades.

**KRAK—TKSHH—CHHLINK!**

The five esmirros were left unarmed.

But they advanced.

Now without blades...

Now without sense.

Driven by the only thing left: instinct and programming.

Then, they opened their jaws.

**KRHHHHHH—SHHKHH…**

From their mouths emerged teeth as sharp as blades.

Not to intimidate. To tear.

They were going to use them as a last weapon, determined to rip off some limb as they passed.

The aura had not finished yet; it erupted again from the sword.

Vibrant sky blue. Ice with a pulse.

The figure, for a moment, moved his sword, which slid among the bodies like a liquid shadow.

And in less than a second, five new cuts were executed from alternate angles.

**ZRRHH—**

- A vertical cut that divided the collarbone.

**SHHHK—**

- An ascending pivot cut, from hip to shoulder.

**FWUNN—**

- A low thrust that severed both legs.

**KLIINK—**

- A lunge that pierced the heart.

**THSSH!**

- And finally... a horizontal cut that took the neck.

Five bodies split in two.

The halves stood upright for a single moment...

**SHHHRK...**

THUD—THUD—THUD—THUD—THUD.

The fragments fell.

... ...

Silence returned...

Only accompanied by an echo of rolling steel.

**KCH-TCH… clink… clink…**

Fragments of high-grade machetes still spun on the ground.

The other five esmirros —the unaffected ones— took a step back.

One step.

Just that.

But it was enough.

Their instincts screamed at them what logic still would not accept:

What they faced... was not human.

It was an execution with a face.

Among the smoking remnants, the blue aura began to dissipate.

The figure returned to its initial position.

Sword down. Steady breathing. Cold gaze.

The esmirros...

were no longer invincible.

**Tac**

Agmar took a step back. His brow furrowed.

**CRRK**

The hand on the rifle was firm... but something inside him wavered.

Because, for the first time since this night began... he had no certainty of coming out alive.

Incredulous after witnessing a multi-hit skill he did not recognize from any known military protocol... and it was nothing less than ten consecutive strikes, as astounding as they were lethal, Agmar murmured, barely audible:

—"No... that was not a simple sword art."

The remaining esmirros did not retreat or flee, but for the first time... they adapted.

Instead of charging like a pack, they moved towards the flanks:

Five distinct positions, five angles of attack, aiming to corner the enemy in a disorganized but simultaneous assault, hoping that one would land the lethal blow.

Tap... Tap... Tap...

They positioned themselves with animal precision.

The hooded figure did not flinch.

His sapphire blue eyes followed them one by one.

He did not seem impressed. Just... accustomed to such strategies.

**Zhhh…**

The fabric of his robe barely creaked as he turned his head.

From the top of the ship, Agmar —irritated by the effectiveness of his opponent— took his experimental rifle.

**CHK—KLANK**

He adjusted the sight, the optical system buzzing with a brief mechanical impulse.

*"Bzzzt…**

—"You won't escape this."

With his tactical advantage of elevated vision over the field, he murmured as he aimed...

**TCHK**

Looking for the perfect opening amid the imminent chaos.

**Toc… toc… toc…**

The esmirros began to surround him.

Their machetes reflected the dim light of the room, flickering like jagged crystals about to fall.

They were about to attack.

**Shhh…**

Like wolves lowering their bodies just before the leap.

But before they could launch...

Then it happened.

*"FWWUUUMMM—TZHHH!**

The figure's sword suddenly shone with dazzling intensity, as if a star had been born in the heart of the underground room.

**Zzzzhhkt!**

The explosion of light crackled with a sharp buzz, expanding its aura like a heartbeat that bent the air.

Agmar squinted against the blinding glare.

—"Tch…"

He cursed under his breath.

The esmirros, as if that light were the signal, attacked from five directions at once.

And being already too close...

they were swallowed by the incandescence.

*"SHHHHHHKRRRRMM!**

The sound of the machetes... disappeared.

As if they had dissolved.

Agmar did not hesitate.

He used that point of light as a target.

**Click—WHRRRRMM—TCHAKAKAK!"*

**TCHAKAKAK—TCHAKAKAK!**

A burst of shots erupted from the rifle, striking directly at the center of the glow.

**TCHNK—PANG—KRK—SKAASH!**

The projectiles hit something: metallic clashes were heard, bounces, even distorted screams...

Perhaps from his own esmirros.

—("A reasonable price.")

He thought coldly, emptying the magazine completely.

Only when the weapon emitted a dry click did he stop.

**Click. Click...**

He quickly changed the cartridge, gasping between tension and fury.

It was then that he heard and saw it.

**SHHHK—SLASH!**

A sharp sound, as if the light itself had been torn apart.

A blue flash, horizontal, slicing through that luminescence that still pulsed.

Agmar blinked, his desperate thoughts filtering into a whisper.

—"If he's still alive… he must be bleeding. He must be collapsing..."

He tried to convince himself.

**Drip.**

A drip.

He turned the rifle, aiming toward the source of that sound.

He hoped the light would stabilize and dissipate its strength and intensity.

And the light began to diminish, slowly retreating, dissolving into fragments like scales floating in the air.

And when it did... his face lost color.

...

The five esmirros were still standing.

**Drip—Drip—Drip**

Pierced.

Wounded.

Bleeding profusely.

Like bodies that still did not know they were dead.

But in the center, where their attacks had converged seconds before...

There was no one.

**FZZzt…**

Only a sphere of light floating in the air, pulsing weakly before dissolving.

A decoy.

A perfect ruse.

—"..."

Agmar, mute, followed with his gaze...

And there he was.

Outside the circle. Left flank.

Sword held high. Posture intact. Not a single scratch.

At his feet…

"Tump… roll… clink—clink…"

the five heads of the esmirros, rolling slowly across the ground, cut like butter with a single blow…

Because they had grouped at the same point.

The bodies still standing trembled for a fraction of a second, as if death hesitated for a moment before embracing them.

And then…

*"CLANK—CLANK—CLINK—TINK—KLONK.**

Their machetes fell first, slipping from loose hands and clattering against the metallic ground, bouncing, spinning, emitting the rough song of stripped steel.

… … …

Then, the bodies collapsed in unison, with a dull and final crash that seemed to echo throughout the hangar:

**THUD—THUD—THUD—THUD—THUD.**

**Gulp**

Agmar swallowed.

...

The intruder looked at him.

And that gaze —sharp, blue as cutting ice— silently told him who would be next.

Now that he was completely alone.

Agmar did not allow fear to consume him entirely. Although he felt it clinging to his skin like a cold sweat, he gritted his teeth, his eyes sharpened, and —as if shooting were a way to deny fate— he pulled the trigger.

**Click—WHRRRRMM—TCHAKAKAK!**

**TCHAKAKAK—TCHAKAKAK!**

His shots sliced through the air like lightning.

Projectiles at sonic speed, the same ones he had practiced hundreds of meters in open fields, forging one of the best accuracies in the Empire.

**SHIIINK—TZAKK—KRSHH—PING—PING!**

But the man before him —to his horror— deflected them with his sword... without using any special skill.

He did not dodge them...

he broke them.

Each projectile was intercepted with an exact angle.

**TINK—CHING—TRRTTT...**

The fragments of the bullets jumped to the ground like a rain of cut metal, pinging against the stone, scattering without leaving a single mark on his dark mantle.

Each impact was deflected with movements so precise they seemed to anticipate the trajectory of each bullet:

cut, twist, deflect, cut.

**TZAKK—KRSHH**

Sparks!

They scattered through the air in brief flashes, dispersing like metallic fireflies.

**CLK—KCHK—TCHHK...**

Agmar's eyes widened in disbelief as he pulled the trigger of his rifle over and over, with growing force.

—"No… that's not possible…"

**Click—Click—Click.**

When the knight took another step forward without moving the sword, Agmar understood:

He had run out of ammunition.

**TCHK!**

A dry crack.

Almost reflexively, he reloaded, raised the weapon, and fired again, now with the knight closer than ever.

**WHRRRMM—TCHAKAKAK—TCHAKAKAK!**

But history repeated itself.

The bullets were useless.

The projectiles sparkled as they were cut in midair.

**TZAKK—PING—KRSHH!**

Bouncing around him as if they were metal toys.

By that point, the figure was in front of the ship.

**FWUUUM—KRZZT.**

Agmar could only follow it with his eyes, unable to stop the storm that loomed over him.

**Shhh—CLACK.**

The swirling wind lifted his cloak behind him, and the crunch of the other's boots on the stone floor marked the rhythm of the inevitable outcome.

Then, the edge of his sword began to shine again.

**VVVRRRM—CHNK!**

This time, with an intense green glow.

A living energy, sharp as the will wielding it.

**Tssshhh—CHHRNK...**

The pressure in the atmosphere increased, the air began to buzz with static, and small particles of dust floated detached from the ground, stirred by the latent energy.

**THWMP—ZZSSHHH.**

**FWUUUM—KRZZT.**

Before Agmar could load another cartridge, the knight launched an ability in the shape of a "V": a downward cut followed by an upward one, executed with perfect precision.

He left behind a trail of vibrant green light, but the target wasn't his body to kill him, but the exact spot where he was standing... the ship.

**CLANG—KRAAAASH!**

**CLANG—KRAAAASH!**

Both wings of the ship were cleanly severed.

The metal creaked as it fractured, as if the structure itself surrendered to that energy.

**CHRRRNN—RZZZK!**

And the entire structure tilted, tearing part of the ground like a cut that not only severed metal but also the balance of the space where Agmar was preparing to shoot.

**It took him completely by surprise.**

The point from which he aimed broke beneath his feet, and the imbalance was immediate.

Agmar, unbalanced by the collapse, slipped…

**THMP—GRMM—KLANG!**

… and tried to adjust himself in the fall to cushion the impact, even propelling himself a bit further with a slight jump, trying to move away from the exact spot where the knight stood.

Even so, he fell onto the platform floor, breathless and wide-eyed.

The blow was brutal, but not enough to shatter the fury that kept him standing.

Furiously, he got up and raised the rifle to shoot at point-blank range.

But the knight's edge was already on its way, as if he had anticipated it.

**CLANG—SHNK!**

The rifle was shattered in two.

Agmar let go of the weapon's remains with rage and disbelief, and unsheathed his two-handed sword with great speed.

**VSSHH—TCHAK!**

The metal came out of the belt with a sharp vibration, marking the shift in his determination.

He knew it was in vain to launch many attacks against an enemy who had already proven

That he could move his sword against multiple opponents.

So he thought of beating him with strength... not just speed.

And although he knew his fast style left dangerous openings, he was willing to risk receiving one, two, or even three hits, trusting that the hidden protection under his cloak —a layer of advanced technological armor, far above what was common at that time— would withstand the immediate damage.

He knew he would bleed... but not enough to fall. The wounds wouldn't pierce vital organs, and with the proper treatment afterward, he could keep fighting today and stay alive tomorrow.

Everything was worth it if it allowed him to land a total slash... something that would split the enemy in half.

The risk was inevitable.

But so was his fury.

—"Aaaaaahh!"

**WRRHHHRMMM—FZZAKK!**

With an ancestral roar, he activated the technique inherited from his imperial lineage.

The atmosphere seemed to tense around him, the ground resonated with a dull echo, and the particles of light floating swirled as if dragged by a will that was not entirely human.

The blade turned a dark red, and the ground began to vibrate beneath his feet.

"VMMMM—RRRK!"

It was brute force. Pressure. Legacy in the form of steel.

—"Die with history, damned knight!"

**THHRRMM—BWAAAM!**

The knight was not intimidated. His gaze did not change one bit.

Instead, he responded with his own sword skill:

A green burst of speed emerged from the ground with sudden violence, ascending diagonally like a crossed lance of light, launched to intercept Agmar's downward slash just before impact, at the weakest point of its trajectory.

The knight's trajectory was precise and fierce, designed to open the cross clash… and fracture it from within.

He knew that the force of a downward strike is most vulnerable just before impact or as it begins to descend, and that the sword is more fragile near the hilt, where the pressure of the attack is minimal.

And it was there that he aimed.

**KRHHHK—CRACK!**

The clash was brutal, like a dry explosion between steel and will.

**FFWSSHH—FLAPFLAP—WHRRMMM!**

The air violently expanded from the impact, shaking the cloaks of both combatants backward.

**KRKRKRKRK—CHRRRNNNK!**

**THMP—SKRRRSHH!**

A sudden roar pushed them in opposite directions, as the ground beneath their feet cracked in a web-like pattern, revealing the magnitude of the blow.

Agmar looked up.

The knight's blue eyes watched him: sharp but serene, as if this had also been calculated.

No arrogance. No hatred. Just certainty.

That ignited him even more.

—"AaaaaAHHHH!"

**THRRRNNK—SKRRAAK!**

With one last exhalation of fury, Agmar tightened the grip on the hilt with both hands and roared, **trying to force his attack forward to break the pressure of the clash**, but his sword was not as strong as his Will and determination.

**His family sword, no matter how powerful, did not reach the necessary strength.** The knight had anticipated everything.

He had the exact technique.

The exact moment.

And still, for a second it seemed that the weapon held...

But it wasn't enough.

**CRAACK—SHRRNK!**

The knight's blade pierced Agmar's, splitting it diagonally.

The heavy tip fell to the ground...

**KLANK—KRRNK!**

...leaving only the broken hilt trembling in his hand.

The echo of that final effort reverberated on the platform...

...

For an eternal instant, both bodies remained motionless.

Like a living statue of steel, fury, and frozen destiny.

The knight was behind him, with the blade still raised, in a neat, unaltered posture.

While Agmar remained a few steps back, frozen, his torso slightly twisted from the effort, gasping with wide-open eyes.

—"..."

And it was then, amidst that forced stillness, that he raised his gaze.

He still held the broken hilt in his hand before slowly lowering his gaze to the fragment of his sword, fallen at his feet.

His face... he couldn't process it.

He didn't understand what had just happened.

And then, the emperor understood with the clarity of a blow that makes no sound:

There were no more exits.

**BZZZT—KLIK!**

In desperation and with eyes reddened by madness, he pulled two spherical bombs with a timer from his cloak, which activated when pressing the central button.

—"If I'm going down, you're coming with me!"

**TCHAK—TCHAK!**

He activated the devices and launched himself like a human projectile toward the knight behind him.

**FFWHHH—CRSSHK!**

He didn't care if he was sliced in half...

He just wanted the bombs to fall close.

But then something happened that Agmar could not anticipate:

Full speed.

A speed he had not shown before:

From his entire body as a whole, and not just through the skill of his sword.

**Toc.**

The knight took a step.

**SWOOSH—WHMP!**

His free hand rose like a precise hammer and struck directly beneath Agmar's sternum.

**THOOM!**

—"Aaaaaa—ghhh!"

**KRRKKK—FWWMP!**

The impact lifted him into the air.

Despite the armor under his cloak, designed to withstand projectiles and close combat shocks, the blow pierced the protection as if he were only wearing fabric.

The violence of the impact compressed his organs and blocked his breath instantly.

**"Hhk—PFFF!"**

Agmar spat saliva with a wet, choked sound.

Along with a scream of pain that broke in his throat, and in the process, he let go of the two activated bombs.

**CLACK—CLINK…**

The spheres spun in the air for a moment...

The world seemed to stop.

Like in slow motion.

**FWWUUHH…**

Everything hung suspended between the explosion that had not yet arrived and the fate that had not yet been decided.

**FWP—WHSSSH!**

But the knight, in those fractions of a second, grabbed one of the bombs with his left hand and, with a firm twist, hurled it towards the escape tunnel door, from where the ship should exit.

**SHHHH—KSHNN!**

**KLANG—FWOOOSH—TKTKTK!**

Then, spinning around at a complete angle, he used the back of his sword to swat the second bomb like a metal ball, sending it after the first.

**WHOOSH!**

**WHOOSH!**

Both bombs flew through the air, disappearing into the darkness of the tunnel.

Seconds later...

**BOOOOOOM!**

**KRAAAAK—RRRRMMMBBBHH!!**

The explosion shook the entire chamber, causing the walls to tremble and sending a wave of pressure that expanded in all directions.

**CLANK—CRRSHH!**

Fragments of metal, smoke, and dust rose like a violent cloud that devoured the entrance.

The tunnel collapsed, **burying the only exit under tons of debris.**

**TSSSHHH—KRUNK!**

The beams burst one by one, like broken bones under the weight of destiny.

Agmar's last path...

sealed.

Not even on foot could he escape now.

**FWWWWSSHH—TCHMMM.**

And before him, standing, unscathed, sword still ignited, steady breathing...

And eyes that silently questioned him for such madness...

…The mysterious figure, whom he could only name: Knight Integrity.

**GRHHH—UGHH—KRK...**

Agmar writhed on the ground, like a wounded beast unwilling to accept its cage. The pain of the blow still vibrated under his sternum, robbing him of air. But it was something else that suffocated him: defeat.

In a single night, he had been disarmed, stripped, and reduced to rubble. Not just by an unknown swordsman... but by a Kingdom he had tried to betray in the shadows.

He raised his gaze.

**Knock-knock**

The knight approached him, slow and steady. The dim light of the room outlined his figure like a growing shadow. His black cloak barely fluttered, and his sapphire eyes shone like merciless verdicts.

Agmar wondered—with that bitter taste only the defeated know—if all the Integrity Knights in the Cathedral were like this. Or if the Kingdom only needed one... The best of them all to end it all.

With his gaze downcast, broken, he spoke in a hoarse voice:

—"Just end this... finish my life and this betrayal. There's nothing else to tear from me."

**Knock-knock**

The knight did not stop. But neither did he raise the edge of his sword to fulfill his request.

—"I am not here to kill you, Agmar. I am here to arrest you. You will be judged by the Kingdom... and its leaders."

"Kh-haha... ha... khhh—ggh..."

"Hrk—ghhh..."

Agmar let out a broken laugh, which soon broke into a harsh sob.

Hot tears fell down his face. Not from regret. From fury.

Fury at seeing his end so humiliating.

Fury at having achieved nothing.

—"So that's it..."

And then he understood.

He would not die here. Not now.

Not by the clean sword of a knight...

But later, when he could no longer hold his head high.

Publicly judged. Condemned with irrefutable evidence.

Executed as a traitor... without dignity.

Would that be his epilogue? To see his name dragged in squares, bound, humiliated?

(No...)

Agmar thought with pain.

He had to choose his ending, even if it was with the last shadow of control he had left.

"Hhh—grrk..."

He whispered in his pain. A broken voice, like a lost echo among broken ribs.

**TCHK—SHHK...**

From his coat, he pulled out a small military knife, coated with a greenish substance on its blade: fast-acting poison.

But the blade did not point at the knight.

It pointed at his own chest.

**—"AAAAGHHHHHH!"**

With a scream of repressed rage, he raised the knife when...

**CLANG!**

The steel flew from his hand as it was intercepted by a dry strike of the enemy's sword.

**TCH—KRRRNNK—clink... clink...**

The knife bounced on the ground, rolled...

…and stopped like a verdict, far from him.

—"Don't be a coward."

Said the knight in a grave, unperturbed voice.

—"Don't try to escape the consequences of your actions. Face them as what you were: the architect of your own condemnation."

—"..."

Agmar did not respond.

He only lowered his head with a very dark expression.

"Hhhh—ghhh... tch..."

A trembling breath, held back.

The slight crack of his shoulders tightening, as if his body still resisted the inevitable.

"Khff—huhh..."

His shoulders contracted.

And then he broke.

"Hrk—hh—uhhh..."

He cried.

Not for redemption.

But for knowing that he no longer had power... not even over his own death.

The voice sounded again, serene but firm:

—"To prevent you from doing more madness... it's better that you sleep."

Agmar barely lifted his gaze... just to see a hand closing in his direction.

**THUD!**

The impact was dry, directly to his temple.

And with that, darkness enveloped him completely.

Fallen. Captured. Condemned.

(*****)

—"Haaah"

Kirito exhaled slowly. Agmar lay at his feet, unconscious, defeated.

(—"Not only did I have to force myself not to kill him, but I also had to prevent him from killing himself...")

He thought, shaking his head at everything that had happened.

Then, in a whisper almost imperceptible, he said:

—"I'm sorry... Vaelinne, Lyrielle. I lied to you."

**TCHK...**

Gently, he took from his clothes a small golden sphere, smooth, almost harmless to the touch.

**Fzzzzt...**

He looked at it for a moment, remembering all that its creation entailed... and all that he was about to do.

**SHHHK—CLANK.**

After sheathing his sword, he crouched down beside Agmar's body and placed the sphere on his forehead.

**Vmmm...**

It reacted to the contact, emitting a soft glow that dripped like liquid.

**Drip—drip—shhhh...**

Like melted light, slowly entering the mind of the fallen emperor.

It was like a key to the mind.

A fragment of his research on Quinella's mental manipulations. But instead of erasing or implanting memories... this forced the truth.

It made it impossible to lie, impossible to be silent.

Every attempt to hide something would turn into confession...

And he still had three more unused, one for each emperor.

He was not doing it for revenge.

But for safety.

To prevent Agmar from taking his own life before being judged. So that the Kingdom would have, once and for all, all the pieces of the puzzle.

**Sksss**

**SHHFFF...**

Kirito stood up.

He knew the moral risk of that decision... and yet he took it.

Because the monster before him had crossed too many boundaries.

The truth was that he could have ended him from the start. A direct offensive, all his power unleashed, and there would have been nothing left.

But he needed something more than victory. He needed a crack.

Because if his hypothesis was correct, if that sphere was going to embed itself as it should, then Agmar's will had to be broken. Not physically, but mentally.

In that unstable state, with his mind weakened and his pride shattered, the psychological defenses would not be able to resist.

And indeed, seeing how easily it penetrated... **he knew he had succeeded.**

Kirito already had in his hand Agmar's tablet, which he had taken from his coat when he crouched down.

It was the device the emperor had brought with him during his escape attempt:

an encrypted information capsule, sealed with multiple layers of security.

**BLIP**

He turned on the device.

On the screen, the interface fluctuated between lines of code and restricted access symbols.

But Kirito already knew the system.

And more importantly, he knew the codes.

He entered the sequence.

**TCHK—CHK—BEEP.**

The system yielded.

The screen fully deployed, releasing blocks of data, hidden files, and interconnected nodes.

All the classified content of Agmar:

Secret weapon projects, military transcripts, undercover interrogations, studies on mind control...

And names. Many names.

Kirito left the system in open mode.

A deliberate gesture.

—"When the soldiers arrive, they will have everything they need."

He murmured without looking back, his voice tempered but filled with determination.

**SHHHK—CLAK.**

He stored the tablet under a secure stand next to the unconscious body.

The device blinked softly, like a silent beacon waiting to be found.

**Bzzz...**

Then his communicator vibrated softly in his ear.

Kirito activated the line with a slight "click," touching the built-in button to enable it.

[—"Kirito? Have you finished capturing Agmar?"]

Lyrielle's voice came with a note of concern.

[—"If not, hurry up. The ground unit is approaching."]

Kirito, calm, replied:

—"All under control. He's already captured. Continue with tonight's plan as established... there are still three more emperors left."

[—"Understood, Kirito. Good luck with what's next."]

Lyrielle responded, more relieved.

—"Thank you. I wish you the same."

With that, the connection was cut.

Kirito glanced one last time at Agmar's body, and without further ado, he took out a tiny and distinct crystal sphere with symbols.

These spheres—almost imperceptible due to their size and weight—had been placed in advance by his golem spiders at strategic points in the imperial strongholds: hidden corners of castles, sealed vaults, ignored tunnels.

Each connected to the others through an encrypted protocol, forming a silent transport network.

Thanks to that network, Kirito had managed to get here from the Cathedral

A considerable distance...

Without being detected, remaining completely anonymous.

**TCHK...**

The brief sound as he activated it between his fingers and threw it against the wall.

"Click—WHUUM..."

A portal opened, silent and oval, showing him the next objective.

One of the hidden entrances installed by his aides:

Golem spiders... programmed to hide these routes and destroy the security systems thanks to their almost undetectable form.

**THMP—THMP—THMP...**

It was then that the sound of footsteps echoed in the distance:

The ground unit had arrived.

(Reflection Override: Adaptive Light Cloak.)

Kirito, without wasting time, whispered a command softly.

**Whssh...**

And his body disappeared completely, as if it melted into the shadow.

He crossed the portal, which closed behind him with a final flash, leaving no trace.

**FZHHHT—SHTUM...**

A second later, the soldiers burst into the room...

and came to a halt.

Because what they saw made them stop:

Dismembered bodies of spies. Blood still hot. The destroyed ship.

The exit was also completely collapsed: debris, stones, and twisted beams blocked access, a direct consequence of the previous explosion.

And in the center... Agmar, unconscious and captured.

The commander arrived shortly after and heard the report.

—"So he did it..."

He said with a mix of astonishment and respect.

—"Who did this?"

A soldier asked.

The commander sighed, contemplating the meticulous chaos of the room.

Then one of the officers approached with something in his hands: Agmar's personal tablet, found right next to his body.

It was on and unlocked, with the information still displayed on the screen.

Upon receiving it, the commander squinted with an expression of surprise and recognition. He said nothing... but understood.

—"I don't know. We were only told that an infiltrator would help deliver the first blow and assist us in disabling the systems where the emperors are safeguarded. But whoever it is... shouldn't be hidden. With so much potential..."

And unknowingly... he was speaking of Kirito. The former king of the Kingdom.

Who, by then...

Had already begun his next conquest.