Sword Art Online Light Novel Volume 15

Alicization Invading (アリシゼーション・インベーディング) is the 15th book in the Sword Art Online Light Novel series, published on August 9, 2014. It is the first volume in the War of the Underworld sub-arc of the Alicization arc.

Chapter 14 -
At the end of the fourth Bullet of Bullets tournament in Gun Gale Online, only two players remained: Subtilizer and Sinon. Using his intuition, Subtilizer predicted that Sinon would choose to snipe on the 5th floor of a five story building. Avoiding loose rubble, he walked up behind her and began strangling her. Sinon struggled within Subtilizer's grip, but as he had a high STR stat, he managed to hold on. As Sinon was about to die, he held her close and whispered into her ear that her soul would be sweet.

Part 1
Gabriel Miller, chief technology officer of «Glowgen Defense Systems», awoke in a luxurious room in San Diego, California. After remembering his dream of defeating the blue-haired sniper while FullDiving, a dream that had been a reality a few days prior, he began to think about the human soul.

After seeing a video of a praying mantis surviving without a head, a young Gabriel questioned where the insect's soul was housed and came to the conclusion that it was spread throughout its entire body, only leaving the vessel after considering it a lost cause. Gabriel desired to see the soul of the insect leaving its body and carried out numerous experiments, but to no avail. Gabriel's friend and neighbor, Alicia Klingerman, was also the subject of his thoughts on the soul. Because humans were unable to live without a head, Gabriel determined that the human soul must be housed in the brain. He intended to marry Alicia and one day see her soul, but upon learning that she was to move away, he plotted to kill her as to protect the soul that should have been his.

Shortly before she left, Gabriel took Alicia to his secret laboratory where he had performed his experiments. He took a long needle and stabbed it into Alicia's left ear, killing her. Gabriel then saw a small, glittering cloud appear from Alicia's forehead and enter into his own without any resistance. Alicia's soul cloud poured images into Gabriel's mind for what seemed like an eternity, before ascending once again and disappearing. Gabriel resolved himself to spend the rest of his life in pursuit of that which he had just seen, even if it were merely a hallucination.

Having awoken from his recollections, Gabriel began thinking about the operation he would soon undertake, an operation that was related to what he had staked his life to seek out. Glowgen's client, the National Security Agency, had requested that his company infiltrate Rath and steal their Soul Translation technology. Gabriel happily accepted the job, attributing it to fate, and began thinking about how close he was to realizing his dream.

Part 2
The captain of the submarine that was to take Gabriel and his team into foreign waters was very displeased with the team he carried. However, a hollowness in Gabriel's eyes that devoured all light reminded him of the eyes of a great white shark, and made him forget his displeasure. After finding their target on the sonar and getting close, Gabriel and his team loaded into a midget submarine and launched, heading towards the Ocean Turtle.

Adaptation Notes

 * The direct description on how Subtilizer killed Sinon in the fourth Bullet of Bullets is original to the light novel.
 * In the original web version, Gabriel Miller was instructed by the NSA as a lieutenant of the US Army; however, in the printed version, he was instructed by the NSA as a Chief Tactical Officer of Glowgen DS.
 * There was no affiliation between Gabriel and Glowgen in the web version.
 * In Chapter 15 Part 2, from the point where Alice had a new understanding of her own position to the end of the incident, excluding the part where she used enhance armament/release recollection, are all original in the light novel.
 * Tension between the JGSDF and the JMSDF was not mentioned in this volume, though it did mention a conflict between the higher ups within the JSDF, and RATH.
 * The order of the different parts and chapters in the volume were rearranged, when compared to the web version.

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Sword Art Online (Ранобэ, Том 15) Volumen 15