」

「……」

In my mind, I was overly surprised and speechless, and the scene from two days ago resurfaced.

At that moment, just as I was breaking into the bedroom, Reios was mercilessly swinging his sword at Yugeo, who was kneeling on the ground.

If I hadn't taken that blow with my sword, Yugeo's head would have been cut off by Reyos.

Killing is arguably the biggest taboo. However, at that moment, for Ryos, Yugeo was no longer a human like him, but a great sinner who had violated the taboo catalog.

Realizing this, he easily crossed the taboo engraved on his soul.

I was lost in thought, and Cardinal leaned back into his chair with a slight thud, raised the teacup in his hand, oh no, it was a soup glass, and took a sip elegantly.

The meat buns and sandwiches I ate dozens of minutes ago had already been converted into my own destiny value, and the empty stomach pouch had shrunk into a ball.

「…… Can I drink some of that, too?"

"You're such a foodie.

Hand the cup over."

[rkl: Spit GJ! ] 】

Cardinal shook his head helplessly, reached out his left hand, and tapped lightly on the rim of the cup I had handed over.

Empty cups are instantly filled with a delicious creamy liquid.

I was a little anxious to wrap the cup in both hands, blow the hot air and take a sip, letting the nostalgic rich flavor spread in my mouth, and then closed my eyes and enjoyed it slowly.

I didn't expect Underorld to have such a delicious soup, I haven't drunk a perfect cream soup like this for two and a half years.

After drinking the thick soup in three or two bites, I let out a sigh of satisfaction. As if waiting for me, Cardinal didn't continue until this moment.

"Listen, as the old man demonstrated before, the taboo that binds us can be subverted by just changing the way we perceive.

We were ...... at the time Neither the old body nor the Administrator saw each other as human after the war.

To the old body, she is the corrupted system that has brought the world to a standstill, and in her eyes the old body is a virus that must be erased...... Both sides did not hesitate at all about zeroing out the other party's destiny.

At the end of the highest-level spell encounter, it was finally time to wipe her out with just two or three more attacks—even in the worst case, the old body should be able to die with her.

」

At this, Cardinal bit his lip, as if annoyed by what had happened.

"But, but...... At the end of the day, the nasty woman finally realizes the decisive difference that exists between her and her old body.

」

"Decisive difference......? However, you and the Administrator, though outwardly different...... But shouldn't the access rights to the system or the divine art you understand be exactly the same?

」

"Indeed. If the battle is fought with the Divine Arts, it should be self-evident that the old body that successfully launched the preemptive attack will achieve the ultimate victory.

As a result, she abandoned the sacred spell and instead converted the mountains of high-priority items in the room into weapons, and then turned the space we fought in into an area where the use of system commands was completely off.

」

"How...... How could it be, wouldn't it be possible to lift the prohibition order in this case?

」

"Without leaving that space, that's true. However, when she began to chant the command to make weapons, the old body realized her intentions, but there was nothing she could do.

Now that the system command has been sealed, there is no other way for the old body to remove it...... As a result, the old body could only helplessly summon a weapon and try to solve it with a physical attack.

」

At this point, Cardinal interrupted, picked up the staff leaning against the table, and handed it to me wordlessly, and I finally reacted in the nick of time, reaching out my right hand to catch it.

However, the heaviness of the cane was completely indiscernible from its magnificent appearance, and my right hand was completely unable to control the momentum of its fall, so I hurriedly added my left hand to finally put it back on the table with difficulty.

The cane, which landed on the table with a dull sound, was clearly an item with the same priority as the Green Rose Sword and my black sword.

"I see...... Not only is the authority to exercise divine magic, but even the authority of weapons and equipment is also god-level.

」

I shook my wrist and sighed, and Cardinal shrugged as if it was a matter of course.

"The Administrator has not only copied his own memories and thoughts, but even the permissions and destiny values have been transferred to the old body as they are.

Therefore, the sword she summoned and the staff summoned by the old body are completely comparable in performance.

In the old body's opinion, even if it becomes a state of abandoning the divine magic and fighting a decisive battle with physical attacks, the final victory should belong to the old body - but at the moment when the staff is erected, the old body finally understands the true intention of the Administrator, and where the decisive gap between the old body and her is......

"So, what exactly is that gap......?

」

"Something very simple. Look at this body."

Cardinal pulled open the front of his robe with his right hand, revealing himself wearing a white shirt, black shorts, and white stockings.

It was a delicate and slender girl's figure that was completely reminiscent of her old sage-like tone.

[rkl: Sure enough, every part of SAO will have a girl who will kill and die.,It's a pity that there are no illustrations here in the library.]

】

Sensing that I was looking at something I shouldn't have seen, I lowered my eyes in a panic and asked.

"This body...... What's wrong......?"

Cardinal put his robe back into its original shape with a "swish", and spoke with some dissatisfaction.

"Oh, what a dull fellow. Imagine yourself suddenly being thrown into this body.

Whether it's the height of your eyes or the length of your arms, it's completely different from what you're used to, right?

Then, do you think you can fight with a sword like this?"

「…… Ah......h

"Before that, the old body used the ...... of the Administrator at the same time In short, Quinella's body is quite tall among women.

I didn't realize it when I was moving in the air and attacking with a spell, but at the moment when I set up my staff to guard against the enemy's attack, the old body finally realized that I was cornered by how desperate he was.

」

I see, when it comes to this, I already feel the same way. Even in the countless VRMMOs in the real world, it takes a lot of work to choose a virtual body that is slightly different from the physical body, and it takes a lot of work to adapt to the sense of distance during physical combat in close contact.

「…… Let me ask you a little bit, what is the difference in height between your body and the Administrator's now............

"About fifty centimeters.

Looking down at the old body from a high place, the expression of the guy who was smiling still remembers it clearly.

Although the battle resumed immediately afterward, it only took two or three encounters with weapons for the old body to realize that his defeat was irreversible......

"Yes, and then...... How's it going?

」

My gut told me that if the conversation continued, something irreversible would happen, but I swallowed my spit and kept asking.

"While the Administrator has established the victory, she has made a small mistake.

If she had sealed the exit of the room before banning the system commands, the old body would probably have been helpless and would have fallen under the sword.

Even if the old body doesn't have human feelings—"

Speaking of this, a rather regretful expression appeared on Cardinal's face.

"—but he still made the judgment that he had to retreat immediately, and ran desperately towards the door.

Behind the old man, the Administrator kept swinging the sword in his hand and slashing at the old man's back, reducing the old man's destiny ......

"That's right...... It's terrible......

"The old body also wants you to taste this horror one day, like you, who has been shuttling between all kinds of women for two years and two months......

[Kawana: Actually, the original text here is 'staring at other women every day for two years and two months'...... I thought it was not good, so I changed my words......]

[rkl: Hack it, I support it!]

But then again, I mentioned in the translation of EX07 before, and when I saw Kirito, I mistook it for life......]

"Talent...... There is no such thing!

」

I was caught off guard by the other party's attack from this aspect, and suddenly realized something and frowned.

"Wait. Two years and two months...... Have you been watching me?"

"Of course I'm watching you.

It's only two years and two months in two hundred years, but it's quite a long time for an old man."

[rkl: Cardinal has acquired a new attribute, Stalker.

】

「…………」

I was speechless. In other words, everything I did was monitored by the young sage in front of me.

I hadn't done anything unseemly – I hadn't even thought about it, but I didn't have the confidence to completely deny it.

And I don't have time to trace my words and deeds in the past two years...... I admonished myself and forcibly pulled my thoughts back.

"Well, put this thing aside. …… So, how did you escape from the Administrator?

」

"Hmm. - Rushing out of her room at the top of the cathedral, the old body finally returned to a state capable of using divine magic.

But nothing has changed. Even if she wanted to fight back with a technique, all she needed to do was immediately turn the address into a forbidden command-free space.

In other words, for the old body, the only thing that can be called an improvement is that the way of escape has changed from running to flying.