In the light novel, Kirito was beaten pretty badly by Administrator. After receiving a blow from her Severed Void attack, he fell on Eugeo’s pool of blood. Because of his despair coupled with survivor’s guilt, he really was going to give up to be killed by Administrator. At that moment, Eugeo spoke up.
It was more than shock. I felt like the world itself was crumbling around me as I crashed to the floor. Blood splashed everywhere at the impact.
But it wasn’t my blood. I’d fallen into the frighteningly large pool of blood that flooded from the two halves of Eugeo’s body. My body was frozen, leaving only my eyes capable of movement. I strained them as far as they could go to see Eugeo’s top half lying right nearby.
My partner of two years was facing my direction, his skin pale and eyes closed. Little bits of blood still seeped from the grisly wound. Whether his life was already gone or on the verge of running out, it was clear that he wouldn’t be regaining consciousness like this.
Only one thing was clear: I had wasted the life that he’d given his to keep alive.
I couldn’t beat her.
Not in sacred arts, of course, but not in sword battle, either. She was far superior to me in every way.
Charlotte’s sacrifice, Eugeo’s determination, Alice’s resolution…and Cardinal’s last will. And all I’d achieved with them was…
“Yes. That’s the face I like to see.”
A voice like a frozen blade caressed my neck. Administrator walked, barefoot and languid, across the marble floor toward me.
“I suppose people from the other side must have richer expressions. I wish I could save that despair of yours for all eternity.”
She chuckled to herself. “And while I assumed fighting with swords would be a terrible bore, I have to say, it’s not bad. You get to feel yourself inflicting that agony upon the opponent. Since we’re doing this, I want you to try a little harder, boy. I want to have more fun with you, slicing you to pieces, starting with your fingers and toes.”
…Do your…worst, I mouthed. Hurt me, torture me, kill me…
At least make sure that before I vanish from this world, I suffer ten times, a hundred times, worse than Eugeo and Cardinal.
I lost the strength to speak. Even the hand still stuck to the handle of my black sword was about to lose its grip…
Until just then, when I heard a whisper at my ear.
“This isn’t…like you. To just…give up.”
It was a halting voice, one about to fade away forever—but one I would never mistake for another.
My eyes rolled upward again. My mind was a blank.
Green eyes, so familiar and comforting they made me want to cry, looked back at me through barely lifted lids.
“Eu…geo,” I gasped. My partner gave me a faint smile.
When the Sword Golem had nearly sliced through my stomach, I couldn’t move from the pain and terror. But what I’d suffered was nothing next to Eugeo. He was severed clean through—bones, organs, everything. The agony should have been enough to utterly destroy his fluctlight. And yet…
“Kirito,” Eugeo said, his voice stronger this time, “I remember…when they took Alice away…how I couldn’t move…But you…you were so brave at that young age…standing up to the Integrity Knight like that…”
“…Eugeo…”
It was immediately clear to me that he was referring to when Alice had been taken away from Rulid Village eight years ago. But I hadn’t been there at the time. At first, I thought he was confusing it with some other memory, but the look in his green eyes was so crystal clear and lucid that it obliterated any doubts I had that he was telling the truth.
“…So this time…I’m going…to give you that push. Go on, Kirito…I know you can…stand again. You can stand…as many times…as it…”
His right hand twitched. Through the tears that flooded my eyes, I saw his fingers scoop up a piece of blue-silver metal from the sea of blood— the handle of the Blue Rose Sword.
Amid the pool of his own lifeblood, Eugeo squeezed the handle of the sword, which had lost its blade, and closed his eyes. A warm orange glow abruptly engulfed the area. The red sea beneath us shone and pulsed.
“What did you—?!” Administrator raged. But the invincible overlord covered her face with her remaining hand and backed away, almost as though she was afraid of the orange light.
The sea of blood grew brighter and brighter, until it was a blanket of tiny lights that floated off the ground all at once. The levitating motes then descended and began to swirl, funneling down into Eugeo’s sword.
A new blade began forming out of the cracked base of the sword.
Matter conversion.
This was a miracle that should only have been possible for the two managers of this world. My breath caught in my throat. A fearsome roil of emotions surged in my chest, bursting out of me in the form of a fresh wave of tears.
Soon the Blue Rose Sword was its old length again. The fine carving of the rose that was its namesake was now a deep-red color. The blade, guard, grip—everything was turning a brilliant red.
With trembling arms, Eugeo held out the beautiful weapon—now more like the “Red Rose Sword”—to me.
Despite having no sensation in it a moment ago, my left hand extended toward the sword, as though pulled by it, and closed around both Eugeo’s hand and the weapon handle.
Energy instantly surged deep into my body.
I didn’t believe it was sacred arts.
This was the power of Eugeo’s will itself. Pure Incarnation power.
I felt the resonance of the soul from his fluctlight to mine, crossing the boundary of worlds.
His hand went limp and left the sword to me, then fell to the floor.
Through his faintly grinning lips, from his mind to mine, came a few short words.
“Now stand, Kirito. My best friend…My…hero…”
The pain of the wounds all over my body vanished.
The cold emptiness at the center of my breast evaporated in the midst of blazing heat.
I stared at the side of Eugeo’s face, his eyes now closed, and whispered, “Yes…I will stand for you. As many times as it takes.”
Just seconds ago my arms felt no sensation whatsoever. Now I held them high, black sword in one hand and red sword in the other, and propped myself up off the floor with the blades to get to my feet.
My body did not want to listen. My legs trembled, and my arms felt as heavy as lead. Still, I managed to walk, step by agonizing step.
Administrator stopped averting her face as I approached, and she stared me down with white-hot fury in her eyes.
“…Why?” she demanded, her voice deep and distorted with a metallic edge. “Why do you foolishly resist your fate?”
“…That’s why…,” I replied hoarsely. “Resisting is the only reason I’m here right now.”
I didn’t stop walking, despite the many times I nearly toppled over. I just kept moving.
The swords I was holding were unbelievably heavy. But the weight of their existence gave me strength and willed my legs to keep moving.
In the long, long past, in a different world than this one, I had engaged in battles of life and death with two swords, just like this. This was the real me…the real Dual-Bladed Kirito.
