Archive of Our Own

The last thing he remembered… was seeing him.

His ‘hero’. His savior.

Kirito, standing there in that final clash against Quinella.

It had been a brutal battle. One that pushed everything past its limit. One that had nearly cost Kirito his life, that had dragged Alice to the brink, and had already taken Cardinal from them entirely just to even stand a chance. And even then… even then, it hadn’t been enough on its own.

It took everything.

Every ounce of willpower they had left. Every memory, every bond, every reason to keep fighting, they burned it all just to barely, barely bring her down.

…

In all honesty, Eugeo wasn’t entirely sure if Kirito had won.

No—no, that wasn’t right.

Eugeo knew Kirito had won.

There wasn’t even a hint of uncertainty left in his heart, not anymore. Even if he hadn’t seen the final strike land, even if his memories were blurring at the edges, dissolving like ink in water, he knew. Kirito wasn’t someone who would fall there. Not after everything they had survived. Not after coming that far.

And even if Kirito suffered after that battle… even if things didn’t end cleanly or happily… he would endure. He always did. He was the swordsman who defied fate.

And Eugeo… would remain with him.

If not in body, then in memory.

 If you had asked Eugeo, living on after that would have been difficult. Painful, even. Because if things had continued… if fate had twisted things just a little differently… then maybe—someday—they would have had to fight.

Over Alice. Over what was real, and what wasn’t. Over what they believed was right.

But Eugeo…

He didn’t even have a sword left to raise.

…

The memories after that point were hazy. Fragmented, like pieces of ice drifting apart across a frozen lake.

But he was certain of one thing. He had helped Kirito one last time.

Even if he couldn’t remember how. Even if that final act had already slipped beyond his grasp.

When his awareness returned, Eugeo found himself standing in a dark corridor. Alone.

Or at least, that’s what it seemed at first.

 The space felt… distant. Quiet in a way that wasn’t natural. It wasn’t merely silence; it was the absence of something. Like a place that existed beyond the living world, a seam between realities. A boundary? Some sort of passage? Perhaps a gateway to the afterlife he had heard about in the scriptures?

And yet—

He wasn’t alone.

  Wrapped gently around his left hand was another’s. The touch was warm, grounding. Eugeo tightened his grip slightly, his thumb brushing over her knuckles, as if to confirm she was truly there and not a trick of the light.

Alice.

  She stood beside him, smiling softly. Dressed in blue, just like he remembered her from the summers in Rulid Village. The same gentle presence he had carried with him for so long, the memory of her that had kept him moving through the Centoria Knight Academy, now finally here, within reach.

 For a moment, neither of them spoke. There was no urgency here, no looming threat of the Administrator. Just a mutual, heavy understanding.

 Eugeo let out a quiet breath, feeling the tension of the battle finally drain out of him.

“This is… all for the best, isn’t it?”

 Alice’s ribbon swayed lightly in a breeze that wasn’t blowing. She nodded. A small, resolute motion, but one filled with absolute certainty.

“Yes,” she said. “Let’s leave the rest to those two. I’m sure they’ll lead this world… to how it should be.”

  Kirito and Alice. They were the ones who would carry everything forward. Eugeo smiled faintly, a genuine, tired smile.

“I guess you’re right.”

 There was nothing left to regret. The path of the Integrity Knight, the fight against his best friend… it was over. Nothing left to hold onto. Not anymore, at least.

“Well… shall we go?”

Alice’s grip tightened just slightly in response.

“Let’s.”

 Side by side, the two of them stepped forward and walked into the light. The durability value of Eugeo had reached zero, and with that, the soul known as Eugeo, who had lived for only twenty years in the Underworld, was removed from the land of the living.

Alongside him, the original Alice. Where those two souls would go—

No one yet knew.

Eugeo opened his eyes.

…Or rather—he realized he could open them.

That alone surprised him.

 For what had felt like an eternity, there had been nothing. A void of non-existence. No sound, no light, no sensations. Just a quiet, endless stillness where thoughts couldn't even form. And yet now, slowly, his awareness returned. His vision came back in fragments, blurry shapes forming into something jagged and real as his mind began to wake.

Then came the noise. It flooded in all at once. Overwhelming and chaotic, a physical assault on his ears. 

Eugeo blinked a few times, trying to adjust as his surroundings came into focus. He seemed to be in some sort of narrow passageway… a corner, maybe an alley. The walls were tall, unfamiliar, and closed in around him in a way that felt nothing like home.

And the sounds…

 They were unlike anything he had ever heard before. Low rumbling growls that vibrated in his chest, sharp, blaring honks that startled him. The distant chatter of countless voices layered over one another, a murmur of thousands.

 Slowly, Eugeo pushed himself up, his movements cautious. His body felt heavy, weighted down by an unfamiliar gravity. His eyes immediately went to his hands. He stared at them, turning them over. He noticed that his body was physical. Solid.

“…I’m… alive…?”

 He turned them slightly, flexing his fingers, watching the tendons move under the skin, expecting them to disappear or dissolve. But they didn't. His body was intact. That shouldn’t have been possible. He had felt it, the moment of his death. His soul, his entire being should have been gone.

Eugeo lifted his gaze and looked out beyond the alley, toward the source of the noise. What he saw only confused him further. Strange, box-shaped vehicles sped past along a wide, gray stone road. They were far too fast to be horses, lacking any grace of living beasts, and yet they moved with purpose, carrying people within glass shells. Others walked along the sides in clothing he had never seen before, fabrics and styles so varied, so lacking in the uniformity of the Underworld, that it was almost overwhelming.

 Bright lights flashed from tall poles in a rhythmic, hypnotic pattern. Buildings stretched high into the sky, scraping the heavens with glass and steel. Everything felt… alive. If that was the proper term to use.

It was unfamiliar. Alien.

“This isn’t…” Eugeo muttered quietly, taking a small step forward.

This wasn’t the afterlife. At least, not the kind he had imagined.

 If this were the afterlife, he thought it would be something grand. Perhaps a meadow of eternal flowers. Something divine or vast? Not… this. Not this loud, dirty, chaotic place.

“Where in Stacia’s name am I…?”

The words slipped out under his breath.

Out of habit, Eugeo tried to call up the familiar Stacia Window, his hand twitching slightly as if to trace it into existence. Nothing happened, no such system had appeared. His expression shifted, the small smile he had formed, his usual attempt to stay cool, fading back into something more uncertain.

Stay cool.

That was what he always told himself.

…

“Eugeo…? Heeello? Alice to Eugeo, hellooooo?”

The voice cut cleanly through his thoughts. It was a familiar voice.

Eugeo froze. Slowly, he turned his head. Once he did, right there floating aside him, was Alice.  Not the knightly version of Alice clad in golden armor. Not the cold, distant Integrity Knight who had stood in the cathedral. Instead, it was the real Alice. The Alice he remembered from before.

  Fully grown, yet dressed in that same simple blue outfit from their childhood in the village. The one he had held onto in his memories for so long, the image that had kept him sane during his imprisonment.

Only now…

She wasn’t… entirely there.

 Her form shimmered faintly, translucent like light passing through water. Ethereal. A presence more than a physical body. She felt more like a manifested soul, a ghost of the girl he once knew.

  “Alice…?” Eugeo’s voice came out quieter than he expected, cracking slightly. 

“Yeah!” she responded, smiling brightly, her form pulsing with the light of the expression. “I’ve been trying to get your attention for a while now. But, um… I guess it wasn’t really working.”

“I… see…”

  Eugeo stared at her. There were too many emotions at once. Relief. Shock. Confusion. Something deeper he couldn’t quite name.

 For a moment, he couldn’t even form proper words. He just took a breath, grounding himself in the sight of her.

Stay cool… stay cool, Eugeo…

“Alice,” he said carefully, “do you know where we are?”

 “Not at all,” she replied almost immediately, glancing around with wide-eyed curiosity. She floated through a discarded pile of trash bags without noticing them. “Everything’s completely different from home. I can’t really say if this is the afterlife or not, but…”

  She paused, tapping her chin lightly in thought, despite the fact her hand passed ever so slightly through her own face.

  “…considering you’re alive, and I’m… not,” she continued, her tone still light despite the heaviness of the words, “this might be somewhere like another world.”

  Another world. The idea settled in his mind, heavy and strange. 

Eugeo’s expression shifted slightly in response. He had never managed to get Kirito to fully explain where he came from. But one thing had always been clear: Kirito wasn’t from their world. He came from somewhere else. Somewhere beyond, something Eugeo might never know.

 “…I suppose that’s possible,” Eugeo murmured, looking back at the strange metal beasts roaring down the street.

  Was this that same world? The “Real World”?

  No… that would be far too convenient. Too fortunate. Still— there was no denying it. 

This place… was not his home. The air smelled wrong, oily and sharp. It just felt wrong.

  “I guess the only way to know for sure,” Eugeo said, straightening his spine and trying to summon a dignity he didn't feel, “is to look around.”

 He began to stand fully, brushing off his clothing, but paused. There was a weight at his hip. A familiar, comforting weight. Eugeo’s hand moved without thinking, reaching down and grasping the hilt.

“The Blue Rose Sword…?”

  His signature blade was at his side, in its sheath, hanging at his hip as if nothing had happened. The same ice-blue blade, perfectly intact, despite the fact it should have been destroyed with him.

“…How…?”

  He didn’t have an answer. The metal felt cold against his palm. He couldn't deny the quiet relief that came with it, though. A sword was an extension of the self. Without it, he felt naked.

  “There’s… an issue,” Eugeo said after a moment, looking back at the floating girl.

“Well?” Alice floated a little closer, tilting her head, her ribbon drifting in a non-existent breeze.

 “My clothing,” he explained, gesturing to his blue uniform and the gold trim. “It’s far too different from everyone else here. I would stand out immediately.” He looked at the people passing the alley mouth. “And even ignoring that…”

  He glanced down at the sword, his thumb brushing the guard. “I can’t exactly walk around in public carrying this. In this place, it might be… illegal? Or dangerous?” 

“Hmm…” Alice began drifting in a slow circle around him, clearly thinking hard. Eugeo’s eyes followed her movement, finding comfort in the familiar sight.

“Let me see it.”

“…?”

  Before he could question it further, Alice reached out. Her hand made contact with the Blue Rose Sword and, somehow… It held. 

Eugeo blinked in surprise as her fingers wrapped around the hilt. There was no resistance. She gripped it as if she were flesh and blood once more.

  Instead, the moment she grasped it, the sword shimmered. Its form shifted, becoming translucent, matching her own ethereal state. The blue steel turned into soft light. Then, gently, it lifted from Eugeo’s side and floated beside her, as if resting in an invisible space only she could access

 Eugeo stared for a second, his hand still lingering in the air where the hilt had been.

“…I see.”

  “That works, right?” Alice said with a small, proud smile, looking at the sword floating next to her.

  “…Yes. It does.” Eugeo lowered his hand. “It’s… perfect, actually.”

At the very least, that problem had been solved. Eugeo exhaled quietly, feeling a fraction of the weight lift from his shoulders. “…That still leaves one issue,” he said, looking down at his clothes. 

Alice tilted her head again, waiting.

 “…The clothing.”

“Just tell them you’re from out of town. You know, a foreigner. From a village far away,” Alice suggested, drifting closer to eye level. She crossed her arms, a look of determined practicality on her face. “That wouldn’t be a lie. Nobody should be looking into our business anyway, Eugeo. We have more important things to do than worry about fashion.”

“We do…?” Eugeo tilted his head, the concept of ‘important things’ feeling incredibly distant when he was currently worrying about being arrested for walking around with a sword he no longer possessed.

“Yeah, we do!” Alice huffed, blowing a stray lock of hair out of her face with a puff of air that didn’t exist. “I mean, think about it. If we’re in another world… this is a new life for us. A clean slate. We don’t know anybody here. We died, remember? We have to start all over. Find a house, make some friends, live peacefully, be happy!” She was practically vibrating with enthusiasm, trying to hype him up, to pull him out of the spiral of anxiety he was trapped in.

Eugeo looked at her, really looked at her. She was glowing softly in the dim light of the alley, her smile bright and hopeful. It was the dream they had never been allowed to have back in the Underworld. A simple life.

But there was a shadow over that dream.

“...And figure out what’s going on with your body,” Eugeo said softly.

The words hung in the air. Preferably, he’d want Alice living. He wasn't sure why, out of the two of them, he was the one who had been given a body. He had been the one to break. He had been the one whose durability had hit zero first. It felt unfair. He would have traded places with her in a heartbeat if it meant she could feel the wind on her face again.

But even ignoring all that, the unfairness, the mystery, Eugeo knew the truth. He had a friend. A best friend that could not be replaced. One that was the night sky itself.

He turned his gaze upward, toward the sliver of sky visible between the towering buildings. It wasn’t the deep, endless velvet of the Underworld. It was a murky, orange-tinted haze, polluted and bright, obscuring the stars. But when he squinted, searching for the darkness, he could only think of his best partner. The one who had taught him everything he knew. 

Kirito.

  The name alone felt like a physical weight in his chest.

“You’re thinking about Kirito again, aren’t you?” Alice said.

Her voice wasn't accusatory, but it was heavy with a small, sad frown. She knew him too well.

“...Yeah… yeah I am.”

Eugeo admitted it, his voice cracking. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, hot and stinging.

He had to take a deep, shuddering breath, forcing his heart to calm down. He pressed the heel of his hand against his chest, trying to massage the ache away. Unfortunately, this was an injury that would not be healed by a sacred art. It was a hole in the shape of a person.

A world without Kirito. That was the price.

It was a trade-off for Alice. He had made his choice in the cathedral, walking away with the original Alice. He had set himself up for this moment, choosing to be with her rather than staying behind for Kirito. But knowing the logic of it didn't make the weight of the decision any easier to bear. It felt like he was carrying a boulder up a mountain, and every step forward was a reminder of what he had left behind.

Alice saw the tremor in his shoulders. She didn't say anything else. She simply floated down, descending through the air until she was level with his chest.

She wrapped her arms around him.

It wasn't a true embrace in the physical sense. There was no warmth of skin, no beat of a heart against his own. It was a sudden, intense chill, a sensation of static electricity and pressure, like a ghost passing through the veil. But to Eugeo, in that moment, it was the most solid thing in the world.

He leaned into the cold, closing his eyes, letting the tears finally fall.

They remained like that for a little while, hidden in the shadows of a strange world, the boy who had come back to life and the girl who hadn't, holding onto each other as the city roared around.

Hours later, the initial shock had begun to fade into a dull, throbbing hum of adrenaline.

Eugeo walked out of the alleyway, his steps hesitant but gaining confidence with every meter. He had taken Alice’s advice. He kept his head down, his expression neutral, trying to look as if he belonged, even if he felt like a fraud.

The world was loud.

That was the first thing that truly assaulted him, even more than the sights. In Rulid, or even the Central Cathedral, silence was a constant companion. Here, the silence was dead. There was a constant, mechanical thrum in the air, the sound of engines, the distant wail of sirens, the murmur of hundreds of thousands of voices.

He walked down a crowded sidewalk, doing his best to weave through the flow of foot traffic. The people here walked with a purpose Eugeo hadn't seen often, eyes glued to small, glowing rectangles in their hands or staring straight ahead, oblivious to the world around them.

“It’s so bright,” Alice whispered, floating just beside his shoulder. She was keeping herself invisible to the public, or at least, Eugeo assumed she was. No one was screaming at the sight of a floating girl in a blue dress, so he hoped her spirit form was imperceptible to the masses. “Eugeo, look at that sign! It’s moving!”

Eugeo glanced up where she was pointing. A massive screen mounted on the side of a building displayed a woman dancing, advertising a drink he didn't recognize. The colors were vivid, almost blindingly so.

“It’s… incredible,” Eugeo murmured, careful not to move his lips too much. “This world… it’s like nothing in the scriptures.”

He felt a pang of unease. If this was the “Real World” Kirito came from, how did anyone survive the sensory overload?

He continued walking, passing storefronts with glass fronts so clear they looked like open air. Mannequins posed in strange clothing that defied all norms of modesty or utility. The smells were a chaotic assault of frying oil, sugar, exhaust fumes, and something sweet that made his mouth water.

“You’re doing great,” Alice cheered him on, drifting backwards so she could face him while moving forward. “Just act natural. You’re just a guy from the country! No big deal.”

“Easy for you to say,” Eugeo muttered under his breath, dodging a businessman who nearly walked right into him. “You don’t have a physical body to trip over.”

Eugeo turned a corner, and the street opened up into a massive intersection. The sheer scale of it stole the breath from his lungs. Buildings that scraped the clouds loomed over all sides, their peaks lost in the night haze. Streams of red and white lights stretched endlessly into the distance.

He stopped at the edge of the crosswalk, waiting as the crowd gathered around him. He watched the people. They looked tired, mostly. But they were alive.

“Hey, Eugeo,” Alice’s voice dropped, losing its playful edge. She floated closer to his ear. “Do you feel that?”

“Feel what?” Eugeo asked, his hand instinctively going to his hip where his sword used to be, a habit he couldn't break.

“It’s… hard to explain,” Alice murmured, looking around with a sudden intensity. Her gaze wasn't on the people or the buildings anymore. She was looking into the shadows, into the spaces between the light. “This place. It’s not just busy. It’s… heavy. Like the air itself is thick with something bad.”

Eugeo frowned. He didn't feel anything specific, just the general anxiety of being lost. But he trusted Alice. Even as a spirit, her intuition had always been sharp.

“Heavy?” he repeated quietly.

“Yeah. Like… we’re not the only ghosts here,” she said softly, her eyes narrowing as she stared down a dark, narrow side street that branched off the main road. “Just… stay close to the lights, okay?”

Eugeo swallowed hard, a cold shiver running down his spine that had nothing to do with Alice’s earlier embrace. He gripped the fabric of his pants, grounding himself.

“Right,” he whispered.

The traffic light changed. A loud chirping sound began to play, signaling it was time to walk.

The crowd surged forward, a river of humanity. Eugeo took a breath, steeled his nerves, and stepped into the flow, letting it carry him deeper into the heart of this strange, new world.

As the night continued, the city continued to shift around them. The neon glare of the main avenues gave way to older, quieter streets where the shadows stretched long and thin between the buildings. It was pitch dark in places, the streetlamps spaced further apart, creating pockets of heavy darkness that Eugeo found himself stepping gingerly through.

He was trying his best to navigate, sticking to the sidewalks and keeping his head down, but his appearance was proving difficult to camouflage without Alice’s help.

“Yo! Hey, kid!”

A group of older teenagers, laughing and holding cans of drink, passed him by. One of them pointed at Eugeo’s blue uniform, grinning broadly. “Nice cosplay, man! Is that from that new game?”

“Co-play…?” Eugeo repeated the word quietly, blinking in confusion. He didn't recognize the titles, but he assumed it meant something akin to 'attire of a knight.' “Ah… thank you?”

“You nailed the look!” another one shouted, giving him a thumbs up before they stumbled away, laughter fading into the distance.

Eugeo let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. That wasn't hostile, but it was bewildering.

He continued walking, turning a corner that led toward what looked like a more residential district. A woman walking a small dog stopped as he approached, eyeing him with curious fascination.

“Excuse me,” she said, her tone polite but inquisitive. “You’re not from around here, are you? Your Japanese is very good, but you look… western. Are you from America? Or maybe England?”

Eugeo froze. He knew the names of the four empires of the human world in the Underworld, but America and England were completely foreign to him. He had no map in his head for this place.

“I… um…” He stumbled over his words, trying to recall what Alice had said about being a 'foreigner.' “I am from… a long way away. Very far.”

“I thought so,” the woman nodded sagely. “Well, welcome to Sendai City. It's a bit of a maze at night, so be careful.”

“Sendai… City,” Eugeo repeated, testing the syllables. So that was the name of this place. Sendai.

“Thank you,” he bowed politely. The woman smiled, tugged on her dog's leash, and continued on her way.

Eugeo watched her go, feeling a strange mix of relief and isolation. He could pass as someone from another country, which bought him time, but he had no frame of reference for this world. He didn't fit in. The clothes, the hair, the way he walked, it was all wrong here.

“You’re doing fine,” Alice said softly, drifting beside him. She had remained invisible to the others, but her presence was a constant comfort. “Though, you know… I’ve been watching you closely, and there’s something else.”

Eugeo glanced at her as they walked past a park filled with rustling trees. “Something else?”

“Yeah. Your face,” Alice said, floating around to face him, her ethereal features scrunched up in thought. She reached out a transparent hand, hovering it near his cheek. “You look… different. Younger.”

“Younger?” Eugeo frowned, stopping in his tracks. He looked around, spotting a darkened shop window. The glass reflected the streetlights behind him, but he could see his outline in it. “I am twenty years old. I have been for a while now.”

“I know that,” Alice said. “But look at yourself. You don't look twenty. You look… maybe sixteen, maybe seventeen?”

Eugeo stared at his reflection. It was hard to see details in the dark, but as he tilted his head, he saw it. The sharpness of his jawline was slightly softer, the baby fat he had lost during his training as a page and knight had returned, just a fraction. His eyes held the brightness of his mid-teens rather than the weariness of his final days.

“I… don't understand,” Eugeo muttered, bringing a hand up to his face. “How can I be younger?”

“Maybe it’s part of whatever brought us here,” Alice suggested with a shrug. “A reset?”

Eugeo lowered his hand and clenched it into a fist. He focused on his arm, on the muscle fibers beneath the skin. He had spent years swinging a heavy axe in the Gigas Cedar, day after day, breaking his body and rebuilding it stronger than steel. Then came the sword training, the ascension to Integrity Knight status, the System Call manipulation. His physical parameters had been pushed to the absolute limit.

Experimentally, he looked at a thick metal signpost nearby. He didn't strike it, breaking public property seemed like a bad way to start his new life, but he gripped it.

Hard.

The metal groaned, a tiny, microscopic indent forming under his fingertips as he applied just a fraction of the force he used to wield the Blue Rose Sword.

“My strength is here,” Eugeo said, his voice low with realization. “It feels undiminished. If anything, the control is even sharper.”

“So you’re a teenager with the body of a master swordsman,” Alice giggled, the sound light and musical, cutting through the strange tension of the night. “That’s not a bad trade, is it? It’s certainly not ugly.”

Eugeo let go of the post, smoothing out the dent with his thumb. “No. It does not fit logically, but… the power remains. That is what matters.”

“See? Look on the bright side!” Alice beamed, spinning in a small circle in the air. “Maybe this world is normal. Maybe we don't need to fight anymore. No Administrator, no Central Cathedral, no war. Just… us. Living in Sendai City. We can go to school, eat weird food, and be happy.”

Eugeo smiled faintly at her optimism. It was a nice dream. “Maybe you're right. A peaceful life. I’d much rather eat your cooking though, aha.”

They continued walking, the road sloping upward slightly. The air felt cooler here, crisper.

But as they crested the hill, the atmosphere changed abruptly.

It wasn't the noise of the city, which had faded into the background. It was a feeling. A pressure. Eugeo felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up, a primal instinct he hadn't felt since facing the sword golems in the cathedral warning him of danger.

They had stopped in front of a large gate. Beyond it, a cluster of school buildings sat in silence. A sign on the gate read: Sugisawa Municipal High School.

“Whoa,” Alice whispered, her voice dropping instantly. The playful smile was gone, replaced by a look of intense focus. She stopped floating and hovered close to Eugeo’s shoulder, her form flickering like a candle in a draft. “Eugeo… do you feel that?”

Eugeo narrowed his eyes, staring into the darkened schoolyard. It looked like a normal  academy. Empty, quiet.

But beneath the silence, something was rotting.

“Yeah,” Eugeo murmured, his hand twitching at his side. “It’s… heavy.”

It was similar to the aura of the Administrator, but different. Her presence had been cold, regal, an overwhelming pressure of control and light. This was different. This felt sticky, malicious, and dark. 

“It’s coming from in there,” Alice said, pointing a trembling finger toward the main school building. “Eugeo… it feels like a beast.”

Eugeo took a step forward, his body shifting automatically into a combat stance, muscles coiling. “Stay close, Alice.”

The peaceful illusion of the city shattered in an instant. The heavy aura of the school washed over them, tasting of iron and decay. This world wasn't normal. And it seemed they weren't done fighting after all.

With a fluid burst of motion, Eugeo vaulted over the school gate. The iron bars were high, meant to keep people out, but they were no obstacle for a swordsman of his caliber. He landed silently on the other side, the balls of his feet absorbing the impact with practiced ease.

The school grounds were unnervingly quiet. The shadows of the trees stretched out like clawed fingers across the pavement, and the air was thick with that miasmic pressure. Eugeo moved toward the main building, his senses sharpening to a razor's edge.

His hand drifted instinctively to his hip.

To his surprise, his fingers brushed against the familiar leather-bound hilt of the Blue Rose Sword. It was back. He didn't need to look to know that Alice must have materialized it there the moment he decided to engage, understanding his need without a word. He gripped the handle, the cold metal grounding him.

He felt tense, his muscles coiled tight like a spring, but he forced his breathing to remain steady.

Stay cool, he told himself. The number one rule of the Aincrad Style is to stay cool.

He repeated the mantra in his head, pushing down the rising tide of anxiety. He had to be observant, he had to be calm, and he had to be ready.

Eugeo slid open one of the side doors to the academy building. It moved with a heavy creak that echoed down the hall. He stepped inside, and the temperature seemed to drop ten degrees.

The darkness here wasn't just an absence of light; it was a physical weight. It pressed against his skin. He navigated the corridors with silent steps, moving closer to the epicenter of that rotten presence. He passed rows of lockers and empty classrooms, the smell of old floor wax mixing with something coppery and foul.

Eventually, he turned a corner and stumbled across it.

The source of the aura.

It was a creature, a grotesque monster that defied natural biology. It was vaguely fish-shaped, a bloated, slimy horror with fins that looked more like jagged knives and a maw that hung open, revealing rows of needle-like teeth. It sat in the middle of the hallway, pulsating.

Eugeo felt his stomach churn. It carried such a negative amount of energy that it made him sick to his core. It wasn't just an animal; it was a concentration of hatred given form.

What is that…?

Eugeo couldn't help but think the words, his mind reeling from the sheer wrongness of the beast. It was unlike anything he had ever faced in the Underworld. It had no eyes, yet he knew it could see him.

“Eugeo!”

Alice’s voice cut through his paralysis, sharp and urgent. She zipped forward, her form glowing brighter in the oppressive darkness.

“There’s two people here! Further down the hall, behind the creature!” she cried out, pointing toward the far end of the corridor where the darkness seemed to swirl the thickest. “We have to help them! I assume they’re normal people, they’re terrified!”

Normal people. Civilians.

The thought brought Eugeo back to life. The fear vanished, replaced by a singular, driving purpose. He had died protecting others; he wouldn't fail to do it now, no matter what world he was in.

“Right!”

Eugeo stepped forward, his boots scuffing the floor just enough to announce his presence.

The creature in front of him let out a wet, gurgling groan, its massive head whipping toward him. There was about eight meters of distance between them, a comfortable range for a swordsman like him.

Eugeo didn't hesitate. He drew the Blue Rose Sword in a single, smooth motion, the ice-blue steel singing as it left the sheath. He dropped into his stance, knees bent, eyes locked on the target.

He didn't need to call upon the system. He poured his will, his Incarnation, into the blade. The Aincrad Style wasn't just a set of moves; it was an extension of his soul.

The Blue Rose Sword began to hum. A brilliant, almost fire-like green aura erupted from the blade, illuminating the dark hallway with an emerald radiance. The air around him warped, the sheer concentration of his will distorting the space.

The creature shrieked, sensing the danger, and lunged.

But it was too slow.

Eugeo unleashed one of the Aincrad Style’s signature moves, the technique Kirito had drilled into him until it was muscle memory.

«Sonic Leap».

He vanished.

A shockwave of green light blasted the floorboards beneath his feet. Eugeo closed the eight-meter gap in a fraction of a heartbeat, moving faster than the eye could track. He became a blur of azure and emerald, a comet streaking through the dark.

He appeared directly beside the beast, his sword already completing its arc.

There was no resistance. The Blue Rose Sword, enhanced by the explosive velocity of the Sonic Leap and the freezing nature of its armament, sliced through the grotesque, rubbery flesh of the curse like a hot knife through butter.

The creature didn't even have time to scream.

The green light cleaved it in two, the sheer force of the blow blasting the two halves apart. They slammed into the walls on either side of the hallway, exploding into a mist of black, oily ichor that sizzled when it hit the floor.

Eugeo skid to a halt, crouching low at the end of the hallway, the tip of his sword resting against the floor. The green aura flickered and faded, leaving only the soft blue glow of the blade itself.

Silence returned to the school, save for the heavy sound of Eugeo’s breathing and the dripping sound of the curse dissolving. He stood up slowly, lifting his eyes to look further down the hall, toward the two people Alice had sensed.

  The green light from Eugeo’s blade hadn't even fully dissipated before his body was moving again. He sprinted toward the end of the hallway, where the oppressive aura was suffocating.

There, scattered on the floor near an open classroom door, were two students. A young girl with glasses and black hair, and a boy. They were conscious but paralyzed by fear, the sheer weight of the cursed energy pinning them down like physical weights.

Worse, the monsters were closing in.

One of the grotesque, fish-like creatures had lunged while Eugeo was dealing with the first. It was looming over the boy, its jagged maw open wide, ready to swallow him whole.

Too slow.

Eugeo accelerated, his boots squeaking against the linoleum. He arrived in a flash, intercepting the creature just inches from the boy’s face.

CLANG!

The Blue Rose Sword met the creature's tough hide with a shower of sparks. Eugeo didn't try to cut it immediately; instead, he used the momentum of his charge to slam into the beast, shoulder-checking it with the force of a battering ram. The creature shrieked as it was shoved back, skidding across the floor.

“D-do you know what that monster is!?” The girl screamed out, her voice trembling violently as she scrambled backward toward her classmate.

“...I have no idea,” Eugeo admitted honestly, keeping his eyes locked on the thrashing curse. He fell back slightly, putting himself between the students and the darkness. “But try to hide somewhere, I’ll hold off the monsters the best I can!”

He looked back at them. The girl nodded frantically, grabbing the boy by the arm and dragging him toward the open classroom door to their right. They stumbled inside, slamming the shutters down on the door window.

Eugeo turned back to the hall. The silence was gone.

From the shadows at the far end of the corridor, more shapes emerged. They were smaller, leaner, frog-like creatures with long, spindly limbs and wet, glistening skin. They hopped and skittered forward, their multiple eyes reflecting the dim light. There were too many of them to count individually, swarming like locusts.

He didn't have eyes in the back of his head, but he could feel them. He could feel their malice, their hunger. They were surrounding him, cutting off his retreat.

Eugeo took a deep breath. Stay cool.

He analyzed the battlefield. The frogs were leaping, preparing to attack from a distance, using the walls to bounce off. They were fast, but their trajectory was linear.

He needed a wide-area attack. Something that could hit multiple targets at once.

Eugeo shifted his grip, holding the Blue Rose Sword with both hands, the blade pointing downward. He took a familiar stance from the Aincrad Style, lowering his center of gravity.

The sword flickered, emitting a pulse of blue light. This wasn't the explosive speed of Sonic Leap, but concentrated power. He felt the Skill activating, enhancing his muscles, reinforcing his body with a strength that went beyond typical human limits. It was a familiar warmth, like an old friend stepping up to support him.

The first frog launched itself through the air, claws extended.

Eugeo swung.

«Vertical Arc».

A brilliant line of blue light carved through the air. It was a devastating two-slash combination.

The first diagonal slash cleaved through the leading frog instantly, slicing the beast clean in two before it could even react. But Eugeo didn't stop there. He pivoted his wrists, reversing the blade's momentum in a perfect fluid motion, bringing it back up across the opposite diagonal.

A second frog, lunging right behind the first, met the same fate.

The two slashes intersected in the air, leaving a glowing, traced 'V' of blue energy that lingered for a second after the steel passed.The two halves of the monsters fell to the floor, turning into black sludge before they even hit the ground. The rest of the swarm hesitated, sensing the deadly precision of the swordsman.

But Eugeo still felt it. That looming presence. The frogs were just small fry.

“HELP!”

The scream came from the classroom. Alice’s voice echoed in his mind at the same instant. “Eugeo, the classroom! It’s inside!”

Damn it.

He had been so focused on the hallway, he hadn't sensed the one that slipped in through the window. Eugeo spun on his heel and bolted for the classroom door. He didn't bother with the handle; he slashed through the locking mechanism with a quick flick of his wrist and kicked the door open.

The scene inside was horrifying.

A massive, amorphous curse had squeezed itself through the window. It looked like a giant, swollen toad with human faces contorted into its flesh. It was looming over the two students, its body expanding as it tried to engulf them.

It was trying to merge. Just like the Sword Golems back in the Cathedral. It wanted to consume them to become stronger. Eugeo prepared to launch himself, pouring every ounce of his Incarnation into his legs for a desperate leap.

CRASH!

Before he could move, the remaining windows on the opposite wall shattered inward.

A figure flew through the air with the force of a cannonball. It was a teenage boy with pink hair, wearing a hoodie and sweatpants.  He slammed into the giant curse with an impact that shook the room. The curse shrieked as it was blasted backward, the boy's fist embedded deep in its fleshy side.

Right behind him, through the broken window, leaped two spectral creatures. They looked like jagged, shadowy wolves with pointed ears and tails. And running with them was a black-haired boy, his expression serious and focused.

Eugeo skid to a halt, his sword still raised, blinking in surprise.

The pink-haired boy wrenched his fist out of the curse, sending it tumbling back. He looked at Eugeo, then at the sword glowing with a faint blue light, then back at Eugeo.

“Yo!” the pink-haired boy shouted, dusting off his clothes. “Who is this guy?”

The black-haired boy landed next to him, the two dogs circling protectively at his feet. He looked at Eugeo with sharp, assessing eyes. He didn't look hostile, just confused and extremely wary.

“I don't know,” the black-haired boy said, his voice low and tense. “But he isn’t a civilian.”

Eugeo quickly sheathed his sword, not out of trust, but to show he wasn't an enemy. He glanced at the two unconscious students in the corner, then back at the newcomers.

“I… I was just passing by,” Eugeo said quickly, keeping his tone calm. “I saw these students in danger. I’m helping them.”

The pink-haired boy’s face broke into a relieved smile. “Oh, cool! Thanks for the assist, then! I’m Itadori Yuji!”

“I’m Fushiguro Megumi,” the black-haired boy added, though his eyes were still narrowed, scanning Eugeo up and down. He hesitated, then looked back at the thrashing curse that was already beginning to reform. “We don’t have time for a proper introduction right now. That thing isn't dead yet.”

Megumi glanced at Eugeo again, a flicker of genuine confusion crossing his face. He clearly couldn't understand what he was seeing.

“You…” Megumi started, his voice tight. “You can see them? The curses? And my shikigami?”

“I can,” Eugeo nodded firmly. “And I assume those beasts are your allies?”

“Yeah,” Megumi said, shaking his head slightly. “Whatever. Look, just be careful. You have a massive amount of Cursed Energy for someone I’ve never seen before. And that sword…” He stared at the Blue Rose Sword’s hilt. “Is that a Cursed Tool?”

“It’s… a partner,” Eugeo said simply. He drew the sword again, the blue flare returning. “Let’s end this.”

Ignoring the fact he doesn’t even know what Cursed Energy is…

“Right!” Yuji cracked his knuckles, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Let’s go!”

The curse roared, its body swelling up to fill the center of the classroom. It lashed out with three massive tongues simultaneously.

“Divine Dogs!” Megumi shouted. The two wolves launched themselves forward, tearing into the left flank of the beast, distracting it.

“Hah!” Yuji charged straight down the middle, ducking under a swipe and driving a devastating uppercut into the curse’s underbelly.

Eugeo didn't hesitate. He moved to the right, his movements a blur. He wasn't as physically strong as the pink-haired boy, perhaps, but his technique was flawless.

The curse tried to snap at him with a secondary mouth on its flank. Eugeo stepped inside the guard, his sword flashing.

«Horizontal Square».

Four blue lines of light illuminated the classroom in a cross pattern. Eugeo slashed four times in the span of a single second, carving deep gouges into the curse's side, severing the muscles that controlled its limbs.

The beast shrieked, collapsing under its own weight, the damage from the three of them proving too much for its regeneration to handle.

“Now!” Megumi yelled.

Yuji leaped high into the air, channeling his strength into his fist. “Take this!”

He slammed down onto the curse’s core with a resounding crunch, while Megumi’s dogs finished off the extremities. Eugeo delivered a final, precise thrust to the creature's skull, freezing it over with a thin layer of ice that shattered instantly.

The curse let out one last gurgling moan before dissolving into black smoke, leaving the room quiet once more.

Silence returned, save for the heavy breathing of the three combatants.

Eugeo exhaled, lowering his blade. He looked over at the two students huddled in the corner. They were unconscious, covered in slime and dust, but their chests were rising and falling. They were alive.

“They’re safe,” Eugeo said, relief washing over him.

“Good,” Yuji said, wiping sweat from his forehead. He looked at Eugeo with a grin. “You’re really fast, man. That sword style is crazy.”

Megumi, however, wasn't smiling. He walked over to the center of the room where the curse had dissipated. He frowned, looking at the floor. There was something there.

“You’re not with Jujutsu High, are you?” Megumi asked, his tone interrogative but not aggressive.

Eugeo shook his head. “No. I’m… not from this area. I’m Eugeo.”

“Just Eugeo?” Megumi asked.

“Just Eugeo,” he confirmed. He looked down at the Divine Dogs, who were fading back into shadows. “But I have to ask… what are those creatures? And what are your ‘divine dogs’? In my home, we call the monsters… something else.”

“Curses,” Megumi said simply. He bent down and picked up a small, grotesque object that had been left behind in the slime. It looked like a severed finger, rotting and ancient. “And these are Shikigami,familiars born from my cursed energy. As for Curses… they’re born of negative emotions. Fear, hatred, disgust.”

“Negative emotions…” Eugeo murmured. It made a terrifying amount of sense. The heaviness, the malice.

Yuji walked over, looking at the object in Megumi’s hand. His nose wrinkled. “Ugh. That thing is disgusting.”

Megumi held the finger up carefully, his expression grim. “This is no ordinary curse. This is a Special Grade Cursed Object.”

Eugeo looked at the finger. Even without touching it, he could feel a dark, suffocating power radiating from it. It made his skin crawl.

“A finger,” Eugeo said.

“It belongs to Ryomen Sukuna,” Megumi explained, his voice deadly serious. “The King of Curses. It’s extremely dangerous. If a normal person touches this, they’ll either die or become a host for a curse that can level a city.”

He looked at Eugeo, then at Yuji. “I need to secure this. Hand it over?”

“Please,” Eugeo said, holding his hands up. He wanted nothing to do with that power. “It’s yours.”

Yuji nodded vigorously. “Yeah, take it. I don’t want to hold that thing a second longer.”

Just as Megumi’s fingers brushed the grotesque, rotting finger, the atmosphere in the room curdled. The air grew heavy, oppressive, the temperature plummeting so rapidly that Eugeo’s breath misted in front of his face.

“Eugeo!”

Alice’s voice screamed in his ear.

At the exact same moment, Megumi’s head snapped up, his eyes widening in horror as he sensed the overwhelming malice descending from above.

“Yuji, Run!”

The command was barely out of Megumi’s lips before the ceiling disintegrated.

With a roar like a tearing sky, a massive, bulbous shape crashed through the plaster and concrete. It was a colossus of a curse, a grotesque, multi-limbed horror of teeth and muscle that filled the entire space of the classroom. It moved with terrifying speed for its size, its primary target being the boy holding the finger.

Before Yuji could even react, the two Divine Dogs leaped from the floor. They didn't attack; instead, they clamped their jaws onto Yuji’s clothing, dragging him violently backward with a yelp of surprise.

Eugeo moved on pure instinct.

He didn't think, he simply vanished from his spot, throwing himself into a backward somersault just as a massive, slimy fist obliterated the floorboards where he had been standing a fraction of a second before.

The curse didn't stop there. It swiped with a secondary limb, snatching Megumi out of the air as the black-haired boy tried to retreat.

“Nue!” Megumi shouted, desperate hands forming the sign for his shikigami.

But he never got the chance. The curse tightened its grip. With a sickening crunch of bone and a burst of dust, it slammed Megumi into the side wall. The reinforced concrete crumbled like wet paper. Megumi’s body went limp, and he was hurled through the hole, tumbling out into the dark courtyard below.

“Megumi!” Yuji screamed, shaking off the Divine Dogs.

Eugeo was already moving. He ignored the debris raining down around him and sprinted for the hole in the wall. He leaped out into the cool night air, landing in a crouch on the grass of the school courtyard.

The curse was already there, pulling itself up from the rubble of the school wall, looming over the unconscious Megumi. It was a towering monstrosity, dripping with malice.

Yuji landed beside Eugeo a moment later, his eyes blazing with determination.

“We have to help him!” Yuji yelled.

The roar of the creature was deafening. It raised a massive limb to crush Megumi into paste.

Eugeo’s grip on the Blue Rose Sword tightened. He couldn't reach Megumi in time to intercept with a block, and a slash might not deflect the weight of that arm. He needed something with more impact. He needed downward force.

He focused, visualizing the skill perfectly. The Aincrad Style wasn't limited to the blade; it also included Martial Arts skills.

Eugeo launched himself upward, high into the air, flipping upside down. He didn't use the sword to cut; instead, he gathered all his momentum, his entire being focusing into his leg. A trail of orange light followed his movement.

«Crescent Moon».

He descended like a meteor, driving his heel down toward the curse's raised arm just as Yuji launched himself forward from the ground, fist cocked back.

“ORAHHH!”

“HYAAA!”

Two impacts struck simultaneously.

Yuji’s fist connected with the curse’s jaw with the force of a freight train, shattering teeth and snapping the creature's head back. Eugeo’s heel slammed into the creature's forearm with a sonic boom, the enhanced skill nearly buckling the limb entirely.

The curse howled, its attack disrupted, stumbling back under the combined assault.

Eugeo flipped off the creature's arm, landing gracefully on the grass a few meters away. He didn't pause. The curse was recovering fast, its flesh knitting back together with wet, squelching sounds.

Eugeo lunged forward, engaging the beast one-on-one to keep its attention off Megumi. He weaved through a flurry of swipes, his movements a blur of blue and gold. Every time he struck, he left a gash of ice, slowing the creature's movements, but it was relentless.

“You—!” Megumi’s voice rasped from the ground. He was coughing, clutching his ribs, but he was conscious. “You idiot! Why did you come back? This isn't your fight!”

“Shut up!” Yuji yelled, delivering a punch to the curse's knee. “I’m not letting you die!”

Eugeo glanced back at the pink-haired boy, impressed by his sheer tenacity. Yuji had no weapon, no technique, yet he was trading blows with a monster like this.

Yuji looked back at Eugeo, then at the finger still clutched in Megumi’s hand,or rather, on the ground where Megumi had dropped it during the crash.

“Why is it so obsessed with that finger?” Yuji shouted, ducking under a swipe.

Megumi grit his teeth, forcing himself to stand up, swaying slightly. “It wants to eat it! If it eats a Special Grade Cursed Object like that… it gains a massive amount of cursed energy. It’ll evolve!”

Yuji looked at the finger, lying innocuously on the grass near the rubble. Then he looked at the monster that was currently trying to kill them.

“Eat it to get stronger…” Yuji muttered. The realization hit him with the clarity of a thunderbolt. He looked at his own hands, then at Megumi. “So… the way to save everyone… to beat this thing… I just need some cursed energy?”

“Yuji?” Megumi’s eyes went wide. “What are you—?”

Before Megumi could finish the sentence, Yuji dove for the finger.

“NO! DON’T DO IT!” Megumi screamed, lunging forward, but his injured body betrayed him.

Eugeo watched in stunned silence as Yuji snatched the rotting digit off the ground and, with a look of sheer determination, shoved it into his mouth. He swallowed it whole.

The reaction was instantaneous.

The pressure in the courtyard exploded. A dark, malevolent aura erupted from Yuji’s body, knocking the dust and debris away in a radial wave.

Eugeo turned his attention back to the curse. The monster seemed to sense a shift in the balance of power. It roared, abandoning Megumi and turning its full attention toward Yuji, sensing a new, potent meal.

But Eugeo wasn't about to let this thing touch his new ally.

“Not yet,” Eugeo whispered.

He pointed the Blue Rose Sword at the charging beast. He didn't just want to cut it anymore. He wanted to end it. He poured everything he had into the blade, his memories, his will to protect, his very soul.

The blue steel glowed with an intensity that turned the night sky bright.

“ «ENHANCE ARMAMENT!»”

A torrent of freezing mist blasted out from the sword, hitting the curse head-on. The frost spread instantly, crawling up the curse’s limbs, covering its face, freezing its shriek in its throat. The creature tried to struggle, but the ice was like stone. With a final, brittle crack, the curse was frozen solid into a grotesque statue of ice.

Eugeo swung the sword one last time, a simple, elegant horizontal slash.

Shatter.

The curse exploded into thousands of shards of ice, dissipating into the night air, defeated completely. Silence fell over the courtyard. Eugeo lowered his sword, exhaling a long, white plume of breath.

“It’s… over,” Eugeo said quietly.

He turned toward Yuji to check on him. “Yuji? Are you al—”

Eugeo froze.

Yuji was standing there, but the air around him felt wrong. Dark lines were etching themselves across his face, ancient, intricate tattoos that shifted and writhed. The boy’s eyes were closed, and a cruel, amused laugh was bubbling up from his throat, a sound that didn't belong to the cheerful boy who had been fighting beside him a moment ago.

Yuji’s eyes snapped open.

They weren't normal. They were a deep, terrifying red with cross-shaped pupils. A wide, mocking grin stretched across his face, revealing sharp, canine teeth.

“Haahahahahaha! Where are the people, where are the women!? What a wonderful era to be in!”

The voice that tore from Yuji’s throat wasn’t his own. It was layered, a guttural rasp overlaid with a high, manic cackle that echoed off the school walls. The boy, no, the entity wearing Yuji’s skin, threw his head back, arms spread wide as if embracing the night sky.

Eugeo stood frozen, the Blue Rose Sword still gripped tightly in his hand. The air around the courtyard had changed.  The dark lines etched across Yuji’s face pulsed with a life of their own, writhing like snakes under the skin.

Is this…? Eugeo thought, his heart hammering against his ribs. Is this the Ryomen Sukuna identity Megumi warned us about?

It was hard to reconcile the cheerful, helpful boy who had fought beside him minutes ago with this creature radiating pure malice.

Megumi, clutching his injured side, pulled himself up to a kneeling position. His eyes were wide with a mixture of terror and grim realization. He stared at the transformed Yuji, his face pale as a sheet.

“He… he actually did it,” Megumi breathed, the words barely audible. Then, louder, he spoke to Eugeo, his voice trembling with suppressed panic. “Eugeo. Get back. Now.”

Eugeo didn't move. “What happened to him? Is this… possession?”

“It’s Incarnation,” Megumi spat the word out like venom. He forced himself to stand, swaying slightly, his eyes locked on the monster in front of them. “The Special Grade Cursed Object… Ryomen Sukuna… he has incarnated. He’s taken over Yuji’s body.”

“In… carnated,” Eugeo repeated slowly. He didn't know the technical term, but he understood the implication well enough. The King of Curses was now wearing his new ally like a suit of clothes.

Megumi’s expression hardened into something cold and desperate. He reached into his pocket, his hand trembling not from fear, but from adrenaline. He glared at the laughing figure of Yuji.

“He’s no longer Yuji,” Megumi stated, his voice devoid of the hesitation he had shown earlier. “He’s a curse. And to stop him… I have to exorcise him.”

“Exorcise him?” Eugeo’s eyes widened. He stepped forward, placing himself slightly between Megumi and Sukuna. “You mean kill him? That’s too extreme, Megumi!”

“If we don’t, he’ll kill everyone in this city!” Megumi shouted back, his composure cracking. “You don’t understand what Sukuna is!”

“I understand that Yuji risked his life to save us!” Eugeo retorted, his grip on the Blue Rose Sword tightening. “He saved your life. We can’t just throw that away!”

Sukuna lowered his arms, turning his gaze, the mismatched, terrifying eyes of a predator down to the two of them. A cruel, mocking grin stretched across his face.

“Save him?” Sukuna chuckled, the sound low and dangerous. He took a step forward, the grass beneath his feet withering instantly. “How amusing. The brat is already gone.”

He looked at Eugeo, then at Megumi, licking his lips with a long, pointed tongue. “Which one of you insects should I kill first?”

The tension in the courtyard skyrocketed. It was a physical weight, pressing down on Eugeo’s chest. This was unlike the fight with the curse. This was a monster that spoke, that mocked, that enjoyed the slaughter.

Megumi ignored the taunt. His face was a mask of determination. He brought his hands together in a prayer-like gesture, his fingers interlacing.

“I’m sorry, Eugeo,” Megumi said quietly, his eyes closing for a brief second. “But I won’t let him leave this school alive. I don’t care if I die trying.”

 Megumi’s energy gradually increased.

“Megumi, wait!” Eugeo shouted, raising his sword. He didn't want to fight Megumi, but he couldn't let him kill Yuji either.

“Come on then, brat!” Sukuna roared, raising his hand, claws extended. “ENTERTAIN ME!”

Eugeo planted his feet, the Blue Rose Sword glowing with a desperate azure light. 

There was no turning back.