213This is a reaction story of the Blue Rose Sword Hero where some characters from Sword Art Online and Rising of the Shield Hero will be watching BRSH from a 3rd person's perspective. Because of this, some of the inner thoughts and dream sequences coming from the BRSH characters won't be included in this reaction.
The timeline from the SAO cast will be a few months after the Season 4 ends while the Rising of the Shield Hero cast will be just a few days after the Season 1 of the anime ends.
This fanfic is once again a conjoined effort between me and "Arementi Revnant". He added his own ideas into this story as well as correct any errors I made in the writing process. So some of the credit for this chapter's completion rightfully falls to him also.
"Where am I?" Kirito asked out to no one in particular as he suddenly found himself in some kind of dark spherical room.
The room was not completely dark though as he soon noticed that the air is dotted with floating dim lights that resembled stars, almost like how an Augma projected planetarium.
But despite the strangeness of his situation, the savior of SAO was able to stay relatively calm. After all, this was not the first time that he found himself in an unfamiliar location with no memory of how he got there.
With Kirito's mind clear from disorientation and now working in full throttle, the young man looked at himself and was surprised to see that he was wearing his signature black outfit that he wore back in Underworld.
'Am I inside Underworld again?! That shouldn't be possible!'
Eager to find clues on where he was currently in, Kirito quickly gazed at the center of the planetarium-like room and saw a floating wooden chair. The chair itself was extravagant in its own way as the wood seemed to be exquisitely refined, but what took Kirito's full attention though was the old man sitting upon that hovering chair while facing away from the teen.
"Well boy..." the man said as he closed the book that he was reading with a soft thud, "don't you have something to say?"
Kirito couldn't help but shudder at the old man's voice when he spoke to him for the very first time. Despite the polite and humorous way this elderly gentleman spoke to him without even looking, the black swordsman could sense the danger this man posed against him. So much so that Kirito failed to immediately reply as he quivered in fear just by this old man's presence alone!
But eventually, Kirito managed to steel his nerves and muster up the courage to speak his mind. Now sensing that there isn't a hint of bloodlust in the elderly man's aura, Kirito decided to test the waters in a polite yet humorous manner.
"Normally, I would ask who you are, where am I and why exactly did you bring me here... but I have seen your type before. You won't give me a straight answer unless you feel like doing it."
Silence reigned for a few moments as the old man processed the young man's words...
Kirito began to worry if he might have screwed himself up and offended this seemingly frail yet dangerous man until suddenly...
"Hehehehe... HAHAHAHA!"
Said man started to chuckle which quickly evolved into unrestrained laughter. Rotating his hover chair as he laughed all the while, Kirito was faced with the mystery man who brought him into this domain.
As the elderly man's mirthful laughter began to die down, Kirito quickly took this chance to carefully observe the mystery man sitting before him.
The elderly gentleman wore a simple yet elegant black suit with a black mantle to go with it secured upon his shoulders, signifying some kind of status that he most likely possessed. A large book that had the size and thickness of a standard encyclopedia rested in one of his hands.
"Whew! That was a good laugh," the old man cheerfully said with a huge grin aimed towards Kirito before finally getting somewhat serious, "You reallydohave a good sense of humor, huh, Black Swordsman."
This quickly put Kirito on edge, as only a select few people were privy to the moniker that he held back in Aincrad. Only his closest friends or his worst enemies are aware of this title.
"To answer your questions in order, my name is Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg. But seeing that it's a big mouthful, I prefer to be called Zelretch. As to where you are, you could say that you are in my personal monitoring room, the Hollow Observatory. And to answer your final question... I saw your plight regarding your loss and decided to help you get over the said loss."
Kirito was taken aback at what Zelretch's final answer is, wondering how he could've possibly known about Eugeo. And more importantly, what could he possibly do?!
"First of all..." Kirito growled as he couldn't help but be a bit snarky with his words, "The Hollow Observatory? Really? Don't you think that name's a bit lame?"
Zelretch's all-knowing demeanor was really starting to remind him of Kayaba Akihiko, and that alone was more than enough to piss him off. Kayaba may not be such a bad guy, all things considered, but that still doesn't erase the fact that he has the blood of over 4,000 lives on his hands.
"and second, what can you possibly do to help me cope?!"
Much to Kirito's surprise, however, Zelretch remained completely calm and collected despite his emotional outburst. The True Magic wielder simply gave Kirito an amused smile before flipping open the thick book that he held in his hands.
That simple action sent Kirito on edge as he stared in awe and confusion, quickly realizing that it wasn't just some ordinary book. Because not only was the book flipping through its contents completely on its own, but it was also skimming through tens of thousands of pages without it ever reaching its end.
"What is that?" Kirito asked out loud, not expecting an answer. But surprisingly enough, the elderly man before him was more than willing to answer.
"This is magic, boy. But unlike those fancy computer codes that you're familiar with in your artificial worlds, this is the genuine article."
Knowing that a man of science like Kirito would be more than a bit skeptical to believe in magic, Zelretch decided that a demonstration was in order. With a snap of fingers, the book stopped on a specific page and the dark observatory suddenly shifted. The smooth concrete walls morphing into rigid stone-like surfaces where...
"Where in Goddess Stacia's name am I!" Eugeo exclaimed quite loudly when he suddenly found himself in some kind of magic circle inscribed on the floor within some kind of stone room with a group of men dressed in priest robes standing across from him.
By his side are three other men with a different weapon attached to their person.
"Eugeo!" Kirito exclaimed as tears fell from his eyes upon seeing his blonde friend alive. The black swordsman attempted to help his friend and walked over to him, but grimly found his hands simply phasing through him.
"I'm afraid you can't interact with him here," Zelretch said with a melancholic expression as the reenactment of events before they faded away into the darkness, "As I said before, this is first and foremost, an observatory. You can't interact with other dimensions in here."
Silence reigned as Kirito struggled to process what was just revealed to him...
"Other dimensions?"
The black swordsman gazed back at the True Magic-user, his eyes clearly demanding for answers.
"You might want to take a seat..."
A more standard, wooden chair materialized right beside Kirito out of nowhere.
"I know that you wish for an explanation, but there are a few things that you must know first for you to understand why I brought you here."
Although Kirito is a man of science, even he was starting to think that maybe... just maybe... that the existence of magic, might actually be true. But as much as this revelation gave Kirito a measure of childish fascination, this train of thought also made him even more paranoid. After all, what very little that Kirito did know about these so-called "magical communities" always showed them in a more sinister light.
Especially against non-magicals like himself who were normally defenseless against their spells.
"(*groan*) Fine. Not like I have much of a choice against someone like you anyways," Kirito said in heavy sarcasm as he reluctantly took his seat.
"Now, now, there's no need to be so serious Kirito." Zelretch couldn't help but chuckle as he could already guess some of Kirito's thoughts just by his tense demeanor, "I brought you here simply because you... of all people... have the right to be included in my little scheme."
"You do know that you've just made me even more suspicious of you, right?"
"Hahaha! Well, I suppose I have." Zelretch laughed in good humor before finally getting just a teensy bit more serious as he started his explanation, "I have a proposition that I would like to offer you."
And so, for the next half hour, Zelretch proceeded to explain to Kirito about the Moonlit world...
Who he is...
His nature as an immortal vampire...
The existence of the multiverse...
his power to observe, interact and travel through said worlds...
and finally, Zelretch's offer.
The offer of allowing Kirito to witness the new life that Eugeo is making for himself in that other world that he was given a glimpse of.
It went without saying that Kirito was left speechless and conflicted with what the magus is willing to offer him. After all, if an offer is too good to be true, then either it's completely bogus... or there's a really big catch attached to the offer.
"What's the catch?" Kirito asked with scrutinizing eyes as he couldn't deny that he is very tempted to accept, "Moreover, why are you doing this? I can't imagine that you're willing to do all of this from the goodness of your heart."
But much to the swordsman's growing annoyance, Zelretch met his gaze with the same, ever so calm expression. Irking the SAO survivor even more.
"Alright, alright..." Zelretch finally relented with a hint of exasperation as he raised his hands in symbolic surrender, "Lighten up already, while it's true that I'm not doing this from the goodness of my heart, just as you said. I'm not doing it for sinister motives either."
"If that is so... then why? Why do this?!"
"Well, to be completely honest and blunt with you Black Swordsman. I'm doing this simply because I'm bored," Zelretch answered with a huge grin on his face.
"HUH?!"
Kirito was left gobsmacked.
A nearly invincible entity...
with powers far beyond his comprehension...
an immortal that defied the logic of this world in more ways than he could count...
was doing this simply because he's bored?!
Seeing that the young hero was still not capable of speech, Zelretch decided to take advantage of this and explain further.
"Believe it or not, immortality isn't as great as people make it out to be. Sure, it might be exciting for the first few centuries... but after the excitement wears off, you are left with nothing but too much time on your hands."
"Is that so..." Kirito says as he managed to collect his thoughts well enough. After all, although it was in the virtual world, Kirito had witnessed firsthand one of the negative effects of immortality. Recalling the poor "Elevator" girl that was tasked to operate the elevator of the Axiom Church for 107 years. Then there's the time he spent with Asuna when they got trapped in Underworld for 200 years.
"I guess that kind of makes sense."
Zelretch's case might be a bit different, but the concept stayed the same. There are bound to be repercussions for his extended lifespan.
"I'm glad that you understand. In fact, it's a running joke between me and my fellow immortals... that our greatest enemy will always be our own boredom."
"I see... so spying on the lives of others, with no regard to their privacy whatsoever, is your way of satisfying your boredom," Kirito said with a hint of disapproval in his voice.
"Hey now! Don't judge me on that! I'll have you know that my hobbies are quite tame when compared to my colleagues! As a matter of fact, one of them even caused the Black Plague in my world, simply because he couldn't think of anything better to do with his time!"
This nugget of information definitely freaked the young hero out in both shock and fear. If the boredom of one immortal can cause a catastrophic event like the Black Plague... then the embarrassment of a selected few individuals in the multiverse really was a much better alternative.
"C-consider me relieved... that your hobby is relatively harmless."
"Hahaha! I know of a few people that will completely deny that claim, but I'm flattered that you think so highly of me," Zelretch chuckled in childish glee.
A moment of silence occurred as Kirito was still processing what had been told to him. He knew the quote "boredom kills" but these immortal beings took it to a whole new level!
By this time, Zelretch was carefully observing Kirito's subtle facial expressions to judge his emotional state. In his opinion, he had given the SAO survivor just enough intel to be somewhat satisfactory. So it pleased him to see that the air permeating from Kirito wasn't as tense as it was before. Realizing this fact, Zelretch saw it fit that Kirito is ready for the very meat of their first encounter.
(*Ahem*) "Anyways..."
Zelretch cleared his throat to get Kirito's attention, something which the swordsman is quick to understand and swiftly paid attention to.
"I suppose you would like to know how we're going to do this, now don't you?"
"Y-Yes, that goes without saying..."
"Very well. First of all, I must inform you that you're not the only one who's going to bear witness to this alternate world where your friend is currently in. Aside from helping you get over your loss, while also indulging myself with my favorite source of entertainment..."
Kirito couldn't help but snort at the vampire's words with deadpan eyes, a fact that the vampire paid no mind.
"I also plan to teach a few dunderheads a lesson on what it truly means to be a hero."
Kirito raised an eyebrow and looked at Zelretch in confusion. Seeing the swordsman's questioning expression, the 2nd True Magic-User proceeded to explain.
"You see, despite my nature as a vampire, I have always had a strong fascination for the Great Heroes of old that are scattered throughout the multiverse. To be honest that's one of the reasons why you caught my interest, Black Swordsman."
"But I'm not a..."
"Yes, you are Kirito boy" Zelretch insisted as he cuts Kirito off.
"Although you continue to refuse to be acknowledged as one... and how only a small fraction of your world is aware of your heroic exploits, that doesn't erase the fact that you are a Hero. Most especially to the eyes of the people you saved."
Kirito couldn't think of a good reply to that. He couldn't exactly refute the old man's claims. But even so...
"What's that have to do with Eugeo though?"
"It has everything to do with Eugeo."
This understandably confused Kirito on what Zelretch meant by that but refrained from speaking out. He had a suspicion that he would get his answers soon enough.
"If you were paying attention at the time, the world where Eugeo is now in is truly on the path to ruin."
Zelretch explained the state of the world that Eugeo ended up in. Kirito's worries spiked in astronomical levels as Zelretch continued.
"A mysterious and reoccurring phenomenon, dubbed as the 'Waves of Catastrophe', devastates that world once after every few centuries. In each and every cycle, the citizens of that world would summon 4 very special people to combat these Waves. These 4 individuals are each entitled by the weapon that they have been summoned alongside with..."
"The Spear Hero, the hero of the spear...
The Bow Hero, the hero of the bow...
The Shield Hero, the hero of the shield...
and last but certainly not least..."
Kirito's eyes widened in realization as he recalled the brief glimpse that he was given of Eugeo in that other world.
"The Sword Hero, the hero of the sword. I don't think I need to tell you which of the 4 Heroes your friend has been summoned as now do I."
Kirito's emotions were already all over the place before this big reveal, but much to Zelretch's surprise, the black swordsman didn't blow up in a fit of rage as he expected. Instead, Kirito laughed at the twisted sense of humor fate seemed to possess to those who are under its thumb.
Is he worried about his best friend?
Of course, he is!
Is he frustrated that Eugeo will have to fight a war?
Yes, most definitely!
Is he concerned that Eugeo might perish again due to his hero status?
This was where Kirito is strangely calm and collected.
While Kirito is still anxious at the position that his best friend is now in, he felt a strange sense of assurance that Eugeo would be okay.
He had trained Eugeo from the ground up back in Underworld. The blonde swordsman has come a long way from the hesitant woodcutter that he once was. So much so that Eugeo was able to emerge victorious against Bercouli back when he and Alice were separated from him in the Central Cathedral.
Kirito was still worried, but he had faith that his friend would prevail.
After taking a deep breath and letting out his frustrations in a big sigh, Kirito gazed back at Zelretch and gestured for him to go on with the details of Eugeo's circumstances. With the assurance that the black swordsman wasn't going to go into a panic attack, Zelretch nodded and continued with his explanation.
"Going back on topic, as I have previously explained to you earlier, the existence of parallel worlds is indeed the truth. But what I didn't mention to you before is that each parallel world could have more than just one timeline."
With a wave of his hand, some kind of holographic projection of a tree now stood tall between Zelretch and Kirito.
"For example, think of the great expanse of the multiverse as this tree.
Down at the roots is when you were born...
up at the trunk is back when you were 14, the fateful day that you were imprisoned in Aincrad...
and then way up there is when you'll be 30 years old...
the trunk is the main timeline, whereyouare the Kirito prime. Are you with me so far?"
Kirito blinked for a second before shakily giving a nod, feeling slightly embarrassed that he lost himself in fascination over the lecture that Zelretch is giving him. This is the kind of discovery that scientists from all over the globe would kill to get after all.
"These branches represent alternate timelines, where reality literally branches off and becomes a different timeline. For example, there's an alternate timeline where Shino Asada was also trapped in Aincrad, resulting in you falling in love with her instead of Asuna Yuuki."
Kirito blushed in a big fluster as the image of him and Sinon, being intimate with steamy hugs and kisses in a queen-sized bed, suddenly got displayed right in front of his face.
"Hey!"
"Then there's one where you met Lisbeth alongside Klein at the very first day of SAO, thus changing the fate of many players who died during the first month of the Death Game. You ended up marrying Lisbeth after a year and a half of dating in that timeline."
Kirito's blush brightened even further when a picture of him and Lisbeth, sharing a bath in a hot spring with both of them buck naked, slid in front of his face.
"Stop that!" Kirito protested as he swatted away the embarrassing image.
But the vampire wasn't having it, getting quite the kick in embarrassing the normally stoic Black Swordsman.
"But my favorite timeline is the one where your sister Suguha borrowed your Nervegear a few days before the SAO servers went live. Because she used the Nervegear, your sister had unintentionally overwritten your physical data and replaced it with her own. So when Kayaba forcibly transformed everyone back into their real-world appearances, you ended up with your sister's pretty face and admittedly developed body! Not only did you have to endure the embarrassment of being leered and flirted at by nearly every man you meet, but you were also seen as a sister-in-arms to your female friends due to your mistaken status as a fellow female player. Ohhhh the chaos and heartbreak you wrought! Especially when the time eventually came when you had to come clean and admit to your friends that you're actually a dude despite your avatar being that of a female!"
"Grrrrhhh! Alright, that's enough!" Kirito yelled in embarrassed outrage as he once again swiped away another image that appeared before him. This one seemingly being a picture of Suguha, but with her wearing a feminine version of his Blackwyrm Coat!
"Okay, okay, easy!" Zelretch laughed in good humor with his hands raised in symbolic surrender, "I've had my fun. I promise that I will get into the serious stuff now."
With a fidgeting nod from the still recovering Kirito, the black swordsman eventually gave his affirmative. Zelretch then materialized another holographic tree, settling it right beside the first one. Numerous strings were linked to both trees, but there was one silverish blue string that stood out from the rest, connecting the first tree to one of the branches of the 2nd tree.
"This 2nd tree represents the world where Eugeo is currently in. And as you can see through this highlighted string, your friend isnotin the main timeline, but in one of the many timelines that diverged from it. I won't go into details, since that would be telling, but due to Eugeo getting summoned as the Sword Hero in this timeline, the situation on that world is slightly better and brighter compared to the main one."
"I see, so when you mentioned earlier about dunder heads that needed to be thought a lesson, do you mean the 4 Cardinal Heroes?
"Yes. With the exemption of the Shield Hero, the Prime Sword, Spear, and Bow Heroes are all a bunch morons who weren't taking their roles as Heroes seriously. Due to this fact, these 3 buffoons caused a lot of disasters instead of preventing them in this world. This is the reason why I plan to include them in bearing witness to this alternate timeline where Eugeo is summoned as Sword Hero."
"I see..." Kirito briefly paused in thought as he processed these variables in his head.
"Since I have revealed to you my plans for this observatory... do you now understand my motivations? Why do I want this to happen?"
"Yes, I understand everything now. If these Prime individuals could learn from watching Eugeo's timeline and improve themselves for their future, then I see no reason for you to deny them in joining us here," Kirito answered with a much more determined nod.
"Great!" Zelretch answered gleefully. But as he stood up from his ornate chair and turned around, his smile became much more mischievous, "Then I leave the explanations for the other guests to you, Black Swordsman. I have to make a few preparations beforehand so our viewing pleasure could be as immersive as possible."
"What?!"
"I will be transporting the 4 Prime Heroes, as well as a few individuals of my choosing, to this observatory about an hour from now. So I suggest that you use this hour to prepare yourself by summarizing everything that I told you just now so you can explain all of this to the others in an easy-to-understand manner."
"Wait! Who are those people that you're talking about?!"
"See you later!" Zelretch mused as he transported himself away to fetch the rest of his audience. Leaving Kirito to angrily ponder with his thoughts on how to explain to the coming arrivals about their situation without sounding crazy.
About 1 hour later...
Kirito was still deep in thought while walking back and forth when suddenly, several portals surrounded by magical encryptions appeared above his head. Multiple voices screamed from each one getting louder and louder as they got closer.
"What the hell?!" Kirito exclaimed as he raised his head to look at the ceiling.
The first group to pop out of the portals turned out to be Asuna, Alice, and Yui, all three of them sporting their ALO avatars. Asuna in her blue Undine form, Alice in her Cait Sith form, and Yui in her pixie form. The only difference being Yui's pixie form had now taken on the same size as her original human form.
The next three portals also expelled one group of people each:
The first group had one guy and two girls. The human male was wearing green-themed armor while the girls seemed to be part human and part beast due to their animalistic features. The teenager being some kind of cat or raccoon mix and the little girl looking more like an angel due to her white bird wings.
The second one was composed of two human females. One was a mature woman while the other was a girl who was still in her early teens.
The last portal produced three young men, one dressed like a knight in red, the second looked like a mix between an assassin and an adventurer, and the last looked like a robin hood wannabe.
Acting fast, Kirito lunged forward and caught Asuna and Yui in his arms while Alice managed to reorient herself in mid-air and landed properly on her feet. Though Alice did look a bit jealous that Asuna got bridal carried by Kirito due to her being able to save herself from the pain of impact. The rest of the new arrivals, on the other hand, were unfortunately met with the hard marble floor.
(*TTHHUDD!*)
" " " " " " "OOUUCCHH!" " " " " " "was the collective groans of everyone else as they soothed their pained body parts from their less than pleasant landings.
"What the heck?!"
"What in the world happened?!"
"Spontaneous teleportation? Is this a game glitch?!"
"Mother?! Do you know where we are?"
"I do not know dear. But I intend to find out."
"Master! My butt hurts!"
"Master Naofumi! Are you okay?!"
"I'm fine. But I would feel a lot better if I know where the hell we are!"
While these unfamiliar groups of people were busy getting their bearings, Kirito gently settled Asuna and Yui back on their feet while also checking on Alice if she landed okay. The mother and daughter duo along with the sentient AI looked at their husband/lover/father with understandable confusion.
"I know you three are very confused, but please just play along to what I have to say," Kirito whispered urgently as he now noticed that the rest of the new arrivals were now up on their feet.
"I promise that I will explain everything as best as I can once a get everyone else on the same page."
Sensing the urgency in Kirito's voice, the three girls were quick to put aside their thoughts, now ready to do what they can to be of help.
"Thank you," Kirito sighed, both in relief and appreciation for their continued support, before setting his mind for the situation at hand, "Try to materialize your wings if you can. Keep them around until it looks like we reached an understanding with them."
" " "Right." " "
With their nod of confirmation, Kirito and his girls approached the group of the supposed Heroes and allies.
"Hello everyone!" Kirito greets them collectively with proper respect, the four Heroes and their allies now taking notice of their presence, "I know all of you are confused, my companions here are also completely clueless on what's going on."
"Clueless?! That's not even the half of it pal… I have been falling… for 30 seconds!" Motoyasu yelled indignantly as he started looking around while still on the ground.
He was about to say more but was cut off as his eyes set on a sight he wasn't expecting to see; similar case for all the other new faces.
Taking a closer look at the young man's three companions, the new arrivals soon began gawking at the three otherwordly females that stood by his side. At first, they simply thought they were from a race of seclusive Demi-humans. But that notion quickly dissolved once they saw how each one of the females spawned fairy-like wings out of their backs.
"To start things off, let's begin with a question that I think all of us can understand. Does a guy with a beard in a black suit ring any bells to all of you?"
That conversation starter seemed to do the trick, as hints of recognition flickered on their faces. But just as they were about to shower Kirito with a flurry of questions (the mature woman, the pre-teen, and the man in green) and demands (the red knight, the blue swordsman, and the yellow archer), they were subsequently halted by the intense looks coming from Asuna, Alice, and Yui. Although Yui's glare looked more like an adorable pout than an intimidating gaze, it still did its job in forcing the group of strangers to hold their tongues for a little while longer, allowing her father to finish what he had to say.
"Now that I've pointed out our mutual abductor, I might as well start by telling you about who he is... what he is... and why he brought us all together here in the first place. I'm the first one he abducted, so I managed to have a small chat with him before he left to fetch all of you. I'm fully aware that all of you have many questions, and we haven't even introduced ourselves to each other yet. But please bear with me for just a little while longer so both sides can be brought to the same page before sharing our names. Does that sound good?"
The small crowd thankfully nodded to Kirito, as they were simply thirsty for answers right now. Even the little angel girl and the three supposedly troublesome Heroes were listening intently.
"Great!" Kirito couldn't help but sigh in relief.
Things were going more smoothly than he thought they would be. And judging by the curious and amazed looks that were being aimed towards Asuna, Alice, and Yui (with a hint of perversion in the red knight's case), Kirito's split-second idea of using the girls' fairy-like appearances to their advantage turned out to be a complete success.
After gaining everyone's approval, Kirito decided to start this meeting by explaining to everyone a few important details about their captor and the situation that they were in. Although Kirito did decide to omit their captor's vampiric nature as to not alarm everyone unnecessarily. Especially for Asuna's sake as he recalled that his girlfriend was extremely weak against creepy things like ghosts and vampires.
"Our abductor's name is Zelretch. His full name is pretty long and troublesome to pronounce, so he preferred to be called by this name."
Everyone nodded in understanding, a few chuckles and giggles were heard here and there, so that was a step in the right direction in warming up the two sides with each other.
"As it turns out, and as hard as it is to believe, Zelretch is what he likes to call, an Immortal Dimension Walker; a being who has the ability to travel to different worlds and timelines whenever and wherever he feels like it."
Everyone's eyes (with the exception of the now confused angel girl) widened in disbelief that such a person could actually exist. Even Asuna and Yui, with all their love and trust to their husband/father, couldn't help but find this claim to be unbelievable. The sole exemption in the crowd was Alice, who knew what it was like to transition from one world to another, leaving her as the only one who believed Kirito.
"I know it sounds ridiculous. Believe me, Zelretch had to show me some very indisputable proof to convince me about his nature and abilities. But he proved to me, without a shadow of a doubt, that everything he told me was the truth."
Focusing his gaze towards the four young men, who each had very peculiar items strapped on a different part of their persons. A red jeweled spear, a blue gemmed sword, a yellow jewel decorated bow, and a green gem emblemed shield.
"He told me about the world that you came from. How it's currently being plagued by disasters that you call the Waves of Catastrophe, and how you four were summoned from your respective worlds to fight against these Waves."
The four supposed Heroes, along with their allies, nodded with different voices of confirmation. While the man with the shield along with the females replied with soft confirmation, the three other men seemed to be puffing up their chest as they preened with pride.
Although Asuna, Alice, and Yui were looking at the four men with some measure of respect, they were also far from impressed. With the exemption of the guy with the shield, the other three seemed to be lacking both conviction and resolve. But, not wanting to insult the supposed Heroes and possibly ruin the still paper-thin bridge that Kirito was weaving between their two groups, the three females decided to stay silent.
"However, while that specific chain of events happened in your timeline, a different set of events occurred in another... In the timeline that Zelretch showed to me of your world, someone else was summoned to be the Hero of the Sword."
"What?!"
"Seriously?"
"That's so sick!"
This definitely caught the other group's attention, especially the assassin-clad Sword Hero among them. Left shocked with the knowledge that, in another timeline, he was effectively replaced by someone else.
While the spearman and bowman found this transition to be hilarious, the mature woman and the guy with the shield felt intrigued by this change.
"The one who got summoned as your world's Sword Hero... was my best friend, Eugeo."
It was now Kirito's group's turn to be left shocked, as they knew fully well how Kirito was still pretty sensitive whenever any mention of Eugeo is brought up. Although it was only for a split second, Asuna, Alice, and Yui noticed the flicker of grief that flashed over Kirito's eyes before disappearing when their lover/father shook it off so he could continue his explanations.
"Anyways, because Zelretch is an immortal dimension hopper, he's almost constantly bored."
This remark understandably caused several raised eyebrows, especially for those who were more intellectually inclined. Having expected, that someone who possessed immense power like this, had to be some kind of benevolent observer.
"This is the reason why he's almost always traveling to different worlds and timelines... looking for things that will provide him with the entertainment that he desires. Which just currently happens to be your world and ours... Because he found Eugeo's timeline to be much more entertaining than your current one, Zelretch decided to make a lesson out of this for fun."
"Make a lesson out of it?" the blue-haired preteen girl, presumably the mature woman's daughter, spoke to Kirito for the very first time, "do you mean to tell us that this Zelretch person wants us tolearnfrom your best friend's timeline?"
"That's pretty much it, yes," Kirito nodded in confirmation before adding, "Zelretch admits that he always had a strong fascination for Heroic figures across the countless worlds that he travels through. So we'll also be providing Zelretch with the entertainment that he wants since we'll all be observing Eugeo's timeline alongside him."
"I... see," the blue-haired girl said as she and the others took in this information, "What do you think mother?"
"While being under the influence of someone else's whims is a bit uncomfortable..." the mature woman mumbled in deep thought before concluding her thoughts, "the opportunity of learning from another world, with a different chain of events, is simply too good for us to pass up. What do you think Sir Naofumi?"
"I'm also a bit concerned of being under this Zelretch guy's thumb, but seeing this other timeline and learning from our other selves might just be worth the trouble," the Shielder, who they now knew was called Naofumi, replied in agreement of going along with Zelretch's games.
"If Master Naofumi thinks that we can benefit from learning from this other world, then I support it all the way," the girl with raccoon ears claims with gusto.
"Same here!" the angel girl cheered, even though she seemed to be clueless over the finer details of what everyone else was talking about, much to everyone's amusement.
The three other Heroes also agreed, each in their own way:
"If it means becoming stronger, then I'm game!"
"I wonder if my other self has discovered any new bows that I haven't unlocked yet. I'm definitely gonna take a look!"
"If this Eugeo is your best friend, then I hope to see if he lives up to our title as Sword Hero."
Asuna and Alice couldn't help but roll their eyes over how condescending these three Heroes sounded, but chose to keep their opinions to themselves in order to keep the peace.
"Now that the explanations are over and done with, why don't we all introduce ourselves!" Yui voiced out cheerfully as she approached her angel equivalent with bright smiles and perky giggles.
Surprising everyone on both sides, the ones who got the introductions rolling, turned out to be the youngest members of their respective groups.
"My name is Yui!" the human-sized pixie introduced while conjoining her hands with the angelic blonde's, "What's your name?"
"Filo's name is Filo!" the angel girl replied with equal levels of cheerfulness, already finding the pixie as someone she would like to be friends with.
Bypassing any kind of social barriers whatsoever, Yui and Filo bashed through them with a sledgehammer; they proceeded to introduce themselves and everyone else to each other without a care in the world. Something that could only be achieved by those who are truly innocent at heart.
"This is my daddy!" Yui introduced with an adorable hand gesture to her father, "His name is Kazuto Kirigaya, but he's also known as Kirito to those who are close to him."
Switching over to her mother, Yui continued, "This is my mommy! Her name is Asuna Yuki."
before finally going over to the newest member of their inner circle...
"And this is my Aunty Alice!"
Kirito and Asuna smiled at this while Alice felt flustered yet proud to be regarded as an aunt to the young pixie.
"That lucky bastard! How the heck was he able to get such a hot fairy babe to be his wife?!"
The Spear Hero muttered about how much of a son of a gun Kirito is. Having a fairy lady falling in love with him and already having a child with her.
"Well, well, well..." the more mature woman in the fancy dress chuckled softly, covering half of her face with her fan, in amusement at the unexpected spectacle, "now this is something you don't see every day."
"You think?!" the earlier named Shield Hero, Naofumi also couldn't help but let out a few soft snickers at Kirito and his women's expense. After all, the fairy race that he saw in movies portrayed themselves as superior beings, making them somewhat stuck up and saw humans as beneath them. So seeing them acting no different from them is actually a relieving assurance.
All the while, the woman's daughter and the raccoon eared teen standing beside her blushed silently in the background over. Their imaginations beginning to take hold as they each had a different reason for finding Kirito's situation to be stimulating. One was still physically and mentally unprepared while the other was severely misinformed about how relationships work.
Paying no mind to the drama that was unfolding around them, Filo pulled her new best friend towards her other best friend and began introducing everyone else. Well, at least the ones that she was closely familiar with.
"This is Melty!" Filo excitedly came over to the sapphire haired preteen with a side hug. This snapped the said girl out of her stupor and prompted her to return the introductory gesture.
"I-It's a pleasure to be a-acquainted with you Miss Yui," Melty greeted with a polite curtsy, seeing the young halfling as someone who's also from nobility.
"Just Yui is fine. We're all friends here!" Yui refuted the formality before turning over to the more mature woman standing besides Melty, prompting Filo to continue introductions...
"This is Melty's mother, Queen Mirellia!"
It was this little piece of information that caused Kirito and his girls to snap out of their embarrassed stupor. Upon realizing that they were in the presence of royalty, Kirito, Asuna and Alice straightened themselves up out of reflex.
"Wow! You're a queen! Then that would mean... you are a princess Melty?!" Yui exclaimed in excitement. Straightening herself up before doing a clumsy but adorable curtsy, Yui greeted them with as much dignity as she can muster, "Then it is a great honor to be in your presence Queen Mirellia."
"It's an honor to meet you too little one," the now introduced queen gave Yui a very warm smile, finding the little fairy creature to be both enchanting and very fascinating.
This was a feeling that everyone in the room also shared, as Kirito, Asuna and Alice along with Naofumi and the still un-introduced raccoon girl, all smiled endearingly at the adorable interactions between their youngest members. Even the three supposed Heroic troublemakers also found this to be an adorable watch. Although, the dude with the Spear has a somewhat disturbing smile on his face compared to the other two.
Oblivious, or rather, not the least bit concerned about everyone's thoughts, Filo once again resumed her introductions like nobody's business...
"This is Master Naofumi!" Filo gestured to the green donned Shield Hero with enthusiastic arms, "He is Filo's master. He's also the one who hatched me and raised me from egghood."
While Filo's words were taken in stride by her own group, it caused some measure of confusion and concern to Kirito and the others. Being a mother figure herself, Asuna was just about to ask the little angel girl what she meant, but decided not to since they would most likely learn the answers from Zelretch once he returns.
"and this is Raphtalia! She's someone Master picked up and raised before having me, so you can say she's kinda like my big sister."
The newly introduced Raphtalia couldn't help but feel slightly peeved about this, as Filo still considered her as more of a sister and a rival instead of the maternal figure that she wanted to be.
"And those three are the Sword guy, Bow guy and Spear guy. They're not all that important, so I never bothered to remember their names."
With how innocent and cheerful Filo said this comment and how insignificant she views the other Heroes, it caused quite the stir of reactions out of everyone who were in earshot.
Naofumi and Raphtalia along with the queen and princess found Filo's words to be painfully accurate and absolutely hilarious. All four of them just barely able to contain their laughter and amusement, or in the queen's case, soft chuckles of adoration for the young Filolial's blunt honesty.
Kirito, Asuna and Alice along with their shared daughter figure Yui were no different as they chuckled and giggled over the so called Hero's roasted dignities. Finding Filo's inability to lie or her nonexistent filter over her choice of words to be quite endearing and amusing.
On the other side of the spectrum, the aforementioned Sword guy and Bow guy both felt offended and indignant at being written out as unimportant. The Spear guy, on the other hand, seemed to be a little more heartbroken than upset that his so-called angel never bothered to remember his name.
Thus prompting the three Heroes to introduce themselves properly in their own ways...
"Ren Amaki," the Sword Hero tried to look cool by giving them a sideways glance and a nod of acknowledgement
"Itsuki Kawasumi," the Bow Hero puffed up his chest while doing so.
"Motoyasu Kitamura," the Spear Hero did the same but with an added flourish of his ponytailed hair.
The people from both sides (with Filo as the sole exemption) couldn't help but roll their eyes again over the trio's display of supercilious self importance. Even Kirito, who had his own moments of being a teasing jerk just for the fun of it, found their prideful demeanors to be more detrimental than beneficial. At least he made sure that his own moments of tomfoolery had a tone of hilarity thrown into it, preventing him from coming off as patronizing and snobbish, but these three were another matter entirely!
However... before anything more could be said and done, another portal materialized not too far from the gathered group. And to nobody's surprise, the man of the hour stepped forward to properly meet his guest/victims.
"Greetings to you all," Zelretch said to the small crowd of people that he invited/kidnapped into his domain. His signature annoying grin plastered on his elderly face, "I trust that Kirito has already filled you all in on what I had in store for all of you, correct?"
While the more intellectual individuals simply nodded in response (Kirito, Asuna, Alice, Yui, Naofumi, Raphtalia, Mirellia and Melty) , the lesser ones (Ren, Itsuki and Motoyasu) were just about to speak their minds of them being kidnapped but never had the chance as Zelretch quickly cuts them off.
"Splendid! Then let us proceed without further delay," the dimension walker spoke enthusiastically, "But first..."
Taking a moment to gather his magic, Zelretch snapped his fingers and forced the room to shift into something more pleasant, "How about I provide ourselves with some comfort and refreshments. That way, we can thoroughly enjoy this viewing of the other timeline."
"Huh?!"
"Seriously..?"
"This is..?"
Everyone had varying degrees of reactions when the room settled into the preference that Zelretch desired, which turned out to be...
" " " "A personal Cinema Theater?" " " "
Kirito, Asuna, Naofumi and even Yui deadpanned at the sight of the elderly mage's weird sense of humor. Ren, Itsuki and Motoyasu all looked on in surprise while Mirellia, Melty and Filo were left in confusion.
"I have provided some snacks like popcorn and soda. I even included a few of my favorite flavored French fries that we can enjoy while we watch the other timeline," Zelretch offered gleefully as he took a large bucket of BBQ chili fries from one of the cinema food stands for himself, "But once we reach some sort of milestone in the other world's timeline, I'll be pressing the pause button. Thus giving you all ample time to prepare and have proper meals in between milestones as well as sleep. Any questions?"
"Uhh..?"
"Great!" Zelretch cut the speaker off, which turned out to be Melty, as he quickly turned around to take one of the available seats, "Hurry up now! You don't want to miss any of the action!"
Left with not much choice from the eccentric true magic wielder, everyone quickly picked a food item that matches their fancy.
Kirito and Yui each took an extra spicy BBQ fries bucket, much to Asuna's chagrin while she herself decided to pick 2 original popcorn buckets for herself and Alice. Seeing as the former Integrity Knight was still unfamiliar with some of their otherworldly foods.
Naofumi took a more general approach as he ordered Raphtalia and Filo to grab a little of everything so they, along with the Queen and princess pair, could have a taste and judge which of the snacks they would prefer.
Ren, Itsuki and Motoyasu also followed suit as they picked differing flavors of popcorn and French fries for themselves.
After everyone was able to take their seats...
Kirito being flanked by Asuna and Alice at the left row of seats...
followed by Yui deciding to sit next to Filo, Melty, Mirellia, Raphtalia, and Naofumi in the middle row...
and Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu sitting next to each other in the right row. The rows of seats now forming an arch with Zelretch's seat facing all of them in the middle.
Motoyasu felt a bit sad that he wasn't seated next to any of the girls, but quickly bounced back to focus on what was about to happen next.
"Oh! By the way..!" Zelretch suddenly paused for a second as he seemed to have remembered something important, "I suppose I should have mentioned this sooner. First of all, you don't have to worry about the outside world while you're in my domain. Time moves differently here, so a day in here is a mere millisecond out there. And secondly, the projections that we will be witnessing will pause if the majority of you people stopped paying attention to what is happening. Ensuring that none of you would miss anything vital if many of you get distracted by certain groundbreaking events."
And with the last-minute announcement out of the way, Zelretch materialized his signature grimoire above his palm. Its pages flipped by themselves before automatically stopping on one specific page.
"For our viewing pleasures... let us begin!"
Fun fact: There is a movie reference in this chapter. Have any of you managed to spot it?
The title speaks for itself, this is still just the next chapter is basically done, I'm just giving it a few more checks to see if I can add more.
If this chapter's Reviews, Favorites and Follows exceed 100 before the week ends, I will upload the next chapter on the spot. If not, the next chapter will be uploaded by its intended schedule, which is next week by this very same time.
As always, thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows. I'm open for compatible suggestions and any advice that you readers could give. As for those nasty Reviewers who loves to Insult us authors, please just leave us alone.
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