“So that leaves three options…climb down, climb up, or break through the wall again.”
“The third will be difficult. Central Cathedral’s walls possess a nearly infinite life and regenerative ability, just like the Everlasting Walls. The same can be said of the glass windows on the lower levels.”
“So we can’t even climb down to where the windows are,” I murmured. She nodded.
“In fact, that hole punctured in the wall is even difficult for me to believe…I suppose I must accept it as some freakishly unlucky outcome from melding our Perfect Weapon Control arts, so it produced a huge burst of power. You have really been a thorn in my side.”
“…”
I merely breathed through my nostrils, certain that arguing my case would only lead us into another downward spiral. “In that case…couldn’t we repeat the phenomenon if we attempted the same thing again?”
“I can’t rule out the possibility…but it would be difficult to make our way through the wall in the few seconds before it repairs itself again, and more importantly…I’ve already used the Perfect Weapon Control of my Osmanthus Blade twice. It needs either a good helping of sunlight or a long rest in my sheath before I can use it again.”
“True, the same goes for mine. It needs a few hours of sheath time…and I’m sure that just hanging from it like this is doing plenty of damage on its own. Whether we go up or down, we should probably start moving soon.”
I brushed the marble stone with my free hand. It was devastatingly smooth. The blocks were nearly six feet to a side, stacked upon one another infinitely, with not even a window to break the totality of the west face. And even those were indestructible, according to Alice.
Our only means of traversing the tower side was to utilize something like rock-climbing hooks that we could jam into the seams of the marble stone to use as handholds. The amount of energy required to go up or down seemed about the same, so I figured we might as well go up, but that led to another major problem.
I gave Alice my most serious face, preparing for another nonanswer, and asked, “If we go up from here…will there be a spot we could use to get back inside the tower?”
As expected, Alice looked hesitant at first. She bit her lip. If there was a place farther up to reenter the building, it would have to be very close to the top floor, where Administrator lived. It would be tantamount to taboo for an Integrity Knight tasked with protecting the Church to escort an enemy to such a vital place.
But Alice drew a deep breath and said firmly, “There will be. On the ninety-fifth floor, in a place called the Morning Star Lookout, the tower is open to the air, with only pillars for support. If we can climb up that far, it will be easy to get back in. However…”
Her crystal-blue eyes got even harder. “If we actually make it up to the ninety-fifth floor, I will have to kill you.”
There was enough force in her gaze to make the back of my neck tingle. I nodded. “That was the deal, I believe. So shall we climb the wall, then?”
“…Very well. It’s more practical than going all the way down to the ground from here…But you make it sound so simple. How will we climb such a sheer wall?”
“Why, we’ll just run vertically right up it…I’m kidding,” I added hastily, seeing the temperature in her eyes rapidly dropping to subzero numbers. I cleared my throat, switched hands on the sword, and motioned with my free hand. “System Call! Generate Metallic Element!”
A shining metal-gray light appeared, which took further shape as my command continued. It grew out to a good foot and a half with a pointed end—a brand-new climbing hook.
I gripped it tight, looked up at the seam in the stone where my sword was stuck, and pulled my arm back.
“Hmph!”
With all the strength I could muster, I drove the hook into the wall. To my relief, it didn’t break. The blade stuck right in the narrow crack. I gave it a few firm yanks up and down as a test, and it appeared wedged tightly enough to support my weight.
Objects generated by sacred arts had very little life and would disappear in a matter of hours if just left around. So it wasn’t suitable to be a lifeline between Alice and me, but it would at least be sturdy enough to act as a decent foothold when climbing the wall.
I could feel the doubt in Alice’s gaze as I held the hook tight with my right hand and pried loose my poor abused sword with my left. Once it was safely back in its sheath, I hung from the fifteen-inch support with both hands and kicked up like mounting a bar.
My physical abilities in the Underworld weren’t exactly like in the later days of SAO, where I had agility that would make a B-movie ninja jealous, but I was still much nimbler and stronger than in the real world. I put my right foot on the bar and rose up to a standing position, with my left hand pressed firmly against the wall.
“A-are you all right?” came a hoarse voice. I saw Alice looking up at me with a pale face and her free hand clutching the golden chain. She looked surprisingly young and innocent. For a moment, I was tempted to pretend to fall, just to see what she’d do, but then thought better of it.
“I think…I am.”
I gave her a little wave with my right hand, then chanted another sacred art to summon a fresh climbing hook. I drove it into the next seam overhead and climbed up as before. It was only six feet of progress, but I felt a small measure of accomplishment at the success.
I called down to Alice, “I think this will work! Just follow me and climb up on the first bar below.”
The Integrity Knight stared at me without budging. Eventually her lips moved, and I just barely heard the sound, “…an’t.”
“Huh? What’d you say?”
“I said…I can’t!”
“Uh…sure you can. With your strength, it should be easy to pull yourself up to—”
“That’s not what I mean!” she insisted, cutting off my awkward attempt at a pep talk. “I have never experienced a situation like this before…and at the risk of exposing myself to shame, it is all I can do just to hang here. I simply can’t climb up on such a slender step…”