Sword Art Online ALICIZATION- Reversal

Chapter 46- Challenge a God

Bercouli Synthesis One looked ahead at the Dark God, frowning a bit. 'Why aren't I catching him, even though I'm switching between three different dragons? Can this God of Darkness manipulate the life of a dragon?' Bercouli thought but as he looked through a lens, getting a closer look. "No way around it, eh?" Bercouli mused. He drew his large sword, slowly raising it. "Forgive me, Nameless Dragon. Time-Splitting Sword..." Bercouli bellowed, time freezing and distorting. Rather the distortion was local or all-encompassing, he wasn't sure. Either way, he slowly moved through the strands of distorted time, twisting the timeflows in a way that it allowed him to reverse Vector's timeflow, while Bercouli's dragon was frozen in time. This ability was slashing the past, the second side of his Divine Object.

"URAGIRI!!" Bercouli bellowed as time began to flow naturally once again, his dragon now behind Vector's dragon as it had drifted backwards in time while Bercouli's was frozen, thus giving the illusion of teleportation. He slashed the wing of the Emperor's dragon, causing the Dark God to fall to the ground. 'Uragiri, the sword that slashes the past.' Bercouli thought to himself, knowing that the Art didn't have a way around it. "Even an Emperor of Darkness won't be able to rewind time!" Bercouli said, more to assure his dragon it had been his doing than anything else.

"If I fall, head back North and rejoin the unit." Bercouli ordered to the three dragons as he walked off the side, using an application of his sword's powers to weaken his own gravitational attraction which caused him to fall slowly, his sword being heavy enough to pull him down still, while he was light enough to not fall through the air. This gave him the ability to seeming walk down a phantom staircase. 

'Emperor Vector. I know not all Other-Worlders are demons like you... I can tell just by looking at that Asuna girl. But you've driven the people of the Land of Darkness onto the battlefield,and caused not just us, but tens of thousands of them to die senselessly. That proves a human like you is evil to the core. You must pay! You will know the weight of all the lives that perished on the battlefield. With this blow,' Bercouli monologued internally as he circled around to the opposite side of Vector, to the Tyrant's back, and lunged with his Sword raised. "I'LL MAKE IT CLEAR!!" 

Bercouli distorted time and attempted to slash at Vector, who somehow dodged it. 'How did he evade that?" Bercouli questioned as he started to distort gravity again to walk on air once more, falling to the ground when he was able to look the Emperor in the eye. The Knight immediately tried to slash the fallen deity but the God backstepped away from it. However, Bercouli saw an opening. 'I've got you!' He thought, excited to end the battle and save Alice, she NEEDED to be there when young Kirito woke up and Bercouli knew Kirito would have his head if he didn't save her, so he had to finish this; the sooner the better. "Time-Splitting Sword... Karagiri!" Bercouli said, making an overhead strike for the Dark God which sent a shockwave out and created a dust cloud. 

Bercouli wasn't ready for what he saw, Vector had caught the slash and was... absorbing it? Bercouli held his stance, his Greatsword aimed to the ground and ready for an upwards strike. "So you can devour people's Incarnation?" Bercouli said, doubtfully. "Incarnation?" Vector questioned as he turned to face Bercouli. "I see. Mind and will, huh? Your mind is like an old vintage wine. Rich, thick, heavy... with a lingering aftertaste. It's not my preference, but perhaps good for cleansing the palate before the main course." Vector said casually, his pupils slitted as his irises were cyan blue and the whites of his eyes being black. If he wasn't a demon before, Bercouli knew he definitely was now.

Vector reached for his sword and slowly drew the blade. "Now, let me drink more." Vector said calmly. Bercouli grit his teeth, "Don't mock me!" He bellowed as he charged the Emperor and aimed a horizontal, two-handed slash at the demon's waist but Vector blocked the strike. Bercouli then decided to use a Sword Art that Kirito had used in training, 'Power Strike'. It was a two-handed, homerun, swing of the sword but the Emperor parried the blow. Bercouli stepped back and went into a stabbing art called 'Harpoon Tackle' but Vector side stepped it and used a one-handed sword art that Bercouli recognized. The Knight Commander blocked the attack with his large sword, sliding backwards a bit. Bercouli raised his sword, gripping it for an overhead strike. He used 'Avalanche' but Vector stopped the attack with his own however Vector was shaking from the pressure. 

"I win!" Bercouli exclaimed as he pressed down harder, his sword glowing red as he prepared to either crush or sever the Dark God's right shoulder. However, Vector started to growl as he grinned ferally, his sword glowing blue as the Incarnation was drained from Bercouli's divine blade. Bercouli noticed an odd mist coming from his foe's blade. Suddenly the world went white and Bercouli froze, his mine going blank until a sharp pain snapped him out of it.

Bercouli leaped backwards. "Did I just space out during battle?" He said, irritated with himself and his perceived folly. However, Bercouli then looked to where the pain was, his left shoulder and it was wounded and bloodied. It wasn't hard for Bercouli to peice the puzzle together. "You bastard! Did you just suck my Incarnation straight from my sword?!" Bercouli then took a moment to calm down a bit. "This is entertaining and all, Your Majesty. But not being able to cross swords makes this battle unfair. Seriously!" Bercouli said with his teeth bared. There was nothing that irritated him more than not being able to fight with his blade.

"That reminds me, I haven't tried this yet." Vector said as he pointed his sword at Bercouli, the mist coming off of it. "No way! Not from a distance too!" Bercouli said before spacing out again, being stirred by the pain of losing his left arm. Bercouli stumbled backwards and used the Sacred Arts to heal his wound. 'Just having that sword pointed at me completely stopped my conscious thought. How can I counter that? I already used Karagiri once so it won't work again. My other secret skill is the Memory Release Uragiri, but who knows if it'll have any effect?' 

Bercouli's eyes then widened as he heard the Pontifex's words in his mind. 'Have you ever had a premonition about death?' Bercouli cast his eyes downward. 'This is the place where I may die, Your Eminence.' Bercouli thought with a feral grin but relaxed his face and closed his eyes. He opened his eyes and glanced to Alice. 'Little one... I couldn't give Kirito the fatherly love he yearned for. After all, I don't even remember my own parents. But... I know Kirito and you are legally married, which means you're Kirito's family...' Bercouli Synthesis One, the Knight Commander, rose to his feet.

'Though I could never be a father to either of you, I know one thing...' Bercouli gripped his sword tighter. "A father will die protecting his children. Not that you would ever understand that, you demon!" Bercouli exclaimed as he lunged for Emperor Vecta, remembering what Kirito had said. 'You said it yourself, kid, "Knights are supposed to be guardians, to protect those who cannot protect themselves. To meddle when you don't have to so people can sleep without fear, to be a hero that people can look up to." You taught me that, and though I let you down when you faught the Pontifex, this time... I'll make you proud, Kirito. I'll be a Knight you can be proud of, a hero little Alice can look up to.' Bercouli thought to himself, having felt partially responsible for Kirito's current condition. He had often found himself wishing he had been fighting the Pontifex alongside his young Knight. But, this time, he'd make sure Kirito stayed safe. 

Bercouli used a Sword Art, 'Hell Sweep' which was a lunging, forward-facing horizontal slash. The Knight Commander was ready to fight until his life entered negative numbers in order to protect Kirito and Alice. The Emperor met the attack head on with 'Vertical' but Bercouli held his ground. "You're not going to take her. I WON'T LET YOU!!" Bercouli bellowed as he channeled his Incarnation into his sword and stepped to the side, letting Vector cut upwards as Bercouli switched to a different Sword Art 'Streak' which sent Bercouli dashing forwards, having slashed Vector's side. 

Vector turned to face Bercouli with a visible scowl, Bercouli just raised his sword once again and prepared to fight.