Sword Art Online Light Novel Volume 17

Alicization Awakening (アリシゼーション・アウェイクニング) is the 17th book in the Sword Art Online light novel series, published on April 9, 2016. It is the third volume in the War of the Underworld sub-arc of the Alicization arc.

Part 1
Kirito's friends: Agil, Klein, Lisbeth and Silica, gathered at the World Tree in ALfheim Online (ALO) along with three thousand other virtual reality game players from ALO or converted from other games. Lisbeth gave a speech and attempted to persuade the crowd to convert their accounts to Underworld to help its residents defend against the incoming foreign players. However, the crowd was discouraged when they discovered that Underworld did not have a Pain Absorber and that their avatars might be lost if they died there. Despite facing hostility from the players, Lisbeth continued her speech.

In Underworld, Asuna and the Integrity Knights continued cutting the ropes that bridged the ravine that Asuna created with her Stacia super account. As they were about to cut the sixth rope, thousands of red light beams streaked down from the sky. While both the Human Empire and the Dark Territory armies watched in amazement, approximately thirty thousand warriors clad in crimson armor began to form. Asuna realized that the soldiers were Americans when they began to yell in English while attacking the Fist Fighters, who were supposed to be their allies. As the situation grew worse, Asuna was approached by Iskahn, who proposed a deal to her. In return for creating a bridge across the ravine to allow the Fist Fighter forces to regroup, the Fist Fighters began repelling the crimson army.

In the fray of the battle, Alice Synthesis Thirty went ahead of the rest of the Human Decoy Army, rendering her vulnerable. Atop a black dragon, Vector, the avatar of Gabriel Miller, snatched Alice and rendered her unconscious with his Incarnation power. Bercouli Synthesis One took Alice's dragon Ayamori, the deceased Eldrie Synthesis Thirty-one's dragon Takiguri, as well as his own dragon Hoshigami in pursuit of Gabriel and Alice. The Human Decoy Army began to move south after Bercouli and Vector, while the Fist Fighters and Integrity Knight Scheta Synthesis Twelve remained to occupy the attention of the Americans.

Part 2
Meanwhile in the real world, Vassago Casals awoke in the main control room of the Ocean Turtle and found that the Fluctlight Acceleration (FLA) had been disabled. He thus decided to dive back into Underworld through the use of his old Sword Art Online avatar.

At Kirito's wagon in Underworld, Asuna healed herself while talking to Ronye and Tiese about Kirito. After the preparations were complete, Integrity Knight Renri Synthesis Twenty-seven ordered the decoy squad, reduced to seven hundred, to head south to rescue Alice. However, the squad soon stopped, as thousands of red columns of light rained down from the sky and transformed into players clad in red armor. As Renri prepared to sacrifice himself to open a path for the Human Empire decoy force, a blue light shone through the clouds and there the figure of Sinon, logged in with the Solus super account, appeared. Using the power of her «Annihilate Ray» long bow, she slaughtered much of the enemy army. Solus also had the power of unlimited flight, thus Sinon flew down to where Asuna was waiting. After greeting Kirito, Sinon was sent by Asuna to fly in pursuit of Alice. The Human Empire decoy force continued south through a detour, with the second wave of the crimson army chasing from the north. On her way south, Sinon wondered where Leafa was, since they both dived in at the same time.

Part 3
In the wilderness on the other side of the Great Eastern Gate, Orc Chief Rirupirin spent a long time to find an earring that belonged to his childhood friend Renju. As he pondered on what meaning the death of thousands of his tribesmen had, Leafa appeared right behind him, logged in with the Terraria super account. He was about to draw his sword to kill her, but feeling the influence of Renju, he stopped. To his shock, Leafa spoke to him like a person rather than showing revulsion, scorn or fear. She then allowed him to bind her hands and take her to Vector as a prisoner, but as they began walking, a black haze, along with the supposedly dead Dark Sorceresses' Guild leader D.I.L., appeared.

Meanwhile, after more than two hours of pursuit, Bercouli Synthesis One fell into despair as he could not close the distance between him and Vector, despite alternating between three dragons. Thus, he decided to use his Time Piercing Sword's Release Recollection Art, «Arcane Slash», to sever the left wing of Vector's black dragon far ahead.

In the meantime, D.I.L. transformed the fingers on her left hand into long, worm-like creatures, stabbed them into Leafa and began absorbing her Life. As Leafa's Life continued to be depleted, the ground below her began to glow green and sprout with plant life and Leafa's Life was completely recovered due to Terraria's unlimited healing abilities. Shrieking in surprise, D.I.L. transformed the fingers on her right hand into the worm-like creatures as well and began draining more of Leafa's Life. Rirupirin tried to stop D.I.L. by attacking her with his own sword, but as he was doing so, an enormous pain erupted in his right eye and it ruptured. At the same time, drew and swung his blade at D.I.L., but due to perception errors stemming from the loss of his right eye, he was not even able to graze her. D.I.L. turned to him in fury, and, after flinging Leafa behind her and transforming her fingers into black blades, swung down. But, at that moment, D.I.L.'s arms fell to the ground as Leafa severed them with her sword from behind. Claiming that she was vanquishing evil to save another person, Leafa severed D.I.L. in half.

Part 4
As his dragon's Life diminished, Vector decided to kill the Integrity Knight chasing him, take control of one of his dragons, and continue flying south. While waiting, he wondered whether to incarcerate Alice or not, but made the decision not to do so. Unbeknownst to him, the Vector super account had the power to tamper with Fluctlights, which, coupled with his Incarnation, robbed her of her dynamism and put her into a forced sleep.

In the mean time, Asuna and the Human Empire decoy force managed to gain some distance from the crimson army, but it was impossible for them to continue running indefinitely. Finally reaching the ruins that Sinon had informed them about, the squad decided to confront the crimson army at this location. As the battle began, one man watched from the sidelines. The man, Vassago Casals, was clad in a black raincoat-like poncho. As he watched Asuna fiercely killing the American players, he recalled watching her fight in Sword Art Online and his vow to kill her and the swordsman in black who fought even more fiercely by her side.

Meanwhile, as Bercouli drew near Vector's crash site, he leapt off the dragon and swung his sword at Vector as he fell. However, Vector easily avoided the attack, and thus Bercouli was forced to follow up with another attack, but Vector caught the blade by clapping his hands over the sword with his back turned.

Back in the ruins, Asuna stood in the middle of the road, defending. Renri on her right was faring well in the battle but the guardians on her left were slowly being pressured to retreat. After she ordered healers to prioritize the left flank, the Americans organized twenty lancers to charge at the Human Empire decoy force. Most were successfully blocked, but a few of the guardians were skewered. In order to protect a fallen guardian, Asuna allowed herself to be pierced by a lance.

In the mean time, after receiving several attacks from Vector, Bercouli crossed swords with him and began pressing down on Vector's sword with his own Time Piercing Sword, which pierced Vector's shoulder. However, at that moment, Vector's sword emitted an ominous glow, which withered the gleam of Bercouli's sword and caused his consciousness to corrode. After Bercouli retreated, Vector shot a beam of dark blue light that, upon touching Bercouli's chest, made his consciousness fade. While Bercouli was stuck in this state, Vector severed his left arm.

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Volumen 17 (novela ligera)