Adminstrator, pontifex of the Axiom Church, has finally been defeated... but at great cost: the death of Eugeo and the loss of Kirito's mind. Six months after the desperate battle atop Central Cathedral, Alice Synthesis Thirty returns to Rulid Village with the catatonic Kirito, who now must recover in a wheelchair. Resigning herself tto a peaceful life as his caretaker, she entrusts her duties as an Integrity Knight and protection of the realm to Bercouli Synthesis One, but it isn't long before the forces of darkness start move in earnest. A malevolent presence in the Dark Territory stokes the fires of war and readies a full-scale invasion of the human lands. The final stress test, long foretold by Cardinal, is about to begin...

