Chapter 2: The Hydra of Error

As The Royal family sees Lira Yuri’s Eidolon as a light blue Wisp with white Halo & dark eye & wing. They question what type of Creature it is.

 “Incredible!” Said King Edwin, 

“Your Eidolon has the color of the 3 Moons  from the eclipse!” 

“Oh yeah!” Yuri said & thought to himself, 

(“If I remember from the Beta Test this world has 3 Moons 1 White Selara, 1 Blue Theryn , & 1 Black Umbros. When the Eclipse happens it’s like a symbol of harmony between People & the Eidolons.”) 

Ethan then says to Yuri, 

“The Eidolons, people had various theories & ideas about how they arrived into the world.” 

“Whether they were born inside us, from the gods, or even from beyond the stars.” 

“We will treasure every single 1 of these marvelous beings that can work beside us to achieve great things!” 

“Wow that’s a good way to put it Ethan.” Yuri said. 

“There’s even an Eidolon Council who prioritizes on staying neutral to the world only to help in dire situations for both the people & there fellow Eidolons.”  Clover said proudly, “Lady Selene is actually a member of the Eidolon Council.” 

Yuri is shocked to hear that from Clover. “Oh it’s nothing to brag about it’s just some people like me are naturally akin to Eidolons.” 

“For example, they trust me with their power, skills & knowledge.”

 “Most Eidolons don’t trust anyone so easily and quickly.” 

(“Queen Selene is 1 of the Eidolon Council “Best to keep that knowledge close to the vest moving forward.”)

Selene then tells Yuri, “Yuri The Eidolon Council is a neutral organization.”

“They govern the summoning and regulation of Eidolons plus help enforce balance between worlds.”

“So they don’t align themselves with any nation, but if the world is in Danger or anything wrong with Eidolons they’ll happily assist.” 

“They will also make sure to wrongfully punish any wrongdoing in their sights.” 

“So make sure you treat your Eidolon well.”

Yuri then says to himself. 

(“The Eidolon Council.  So technically they’ve handled contracting these beings with everyone? Best to be on there good side.”)

Selene then continues, 
“Each Council member has an ancient Eidolon by their side. The ancients Eidolons are ones that 1st arrived here or some that are unique & powerful like Lira. I bet the Council will be impressed to see 1 that has the color of all 3 moons!” 
Yuri then giggles , “Yeah! I bet Lira will be a showstopper!” 
Lira then says to himself telepathically, (“Do you mean it Master Yuri or were you joking?”)
Yuri says, (“Of Course I’m not joking!” You really did leave a grand impression of some kind onto me.”)

“Queen Selene if you don’t mind me asking what’s your position in the Eidolon Council?” Yuri asks 
Selene closes her eyes & sees a vision of something dreadful happening later on with Yuri & Lira charging into whatever danger it could be.
After seeing that Selene says to him, “I’ll tell you at a later time.” (“If you survive the inevitable danger that’s about to come forth!”) she thought to herself cryptically.
Yuri accepts her response & after breakfast he leaves the Castle to return to town for the last day of the Eclipse Festival.
However, Emma hurries after Yuri & calls out to him.“YURI, WAIT!!” He stops & says, “Oh Emma! Are you coming to see the Festival with me without Clover?” “If only I can but my father wanted me to give you this.” She says & Emma gives Yuri A Platinum Coin showing the 3 Moons with a Winged Crown at the center.“This is the Royal Crest! With it you’re under our protection, granted access to Noble areas, pass through any security checkpoints & other stuff! Also, be sure to remember us when you look at it ok?”
Yuri looks at the Crest & back at Emma. He smiles & says, “Thank you Emma & don’t worry, I won’t forget this.”
Yuri waves farewell to the family as he leaves through the gate.
As Yuri walks into the town he gets a message from Mira in his mailbox
“A message from Mira!” Yuri said as he reads it
“Hi Yuri it’s Mira. I decided that I will join you on your adventure in this world, but be sure to keep my identity as an AI a secret! I will be at the Town Square I’ll be the girl with Pink Hair. Please don’t keep me waiting, Mira.” 
Yuri gets to the town square & tries to find Mira.After a few minutes he sees a girl with pink hair by the fountain,  A sleek techno-mystic look that mixes sorceress robes with digital cyberpunk armor plating. Her vibe contrast’s leaning more into purple, neon pink, and black tones—colors that feel like “glitch + arcane,”
Her hair Long, gradient strands—starting black at the roots but neon purple & teal at the tips,
Her eyes magenta, Pale skin with faint luminous traces along her arms, & A digital rune-like tattoo spiraling around her left hand.
Her outfit is a High-collared, sleeveless battle-dress that combines cloth with armored plating. The chestpiece has shifting holographic runes across it, detachable black & purple elbow length sleeves, plus a Flowing asymmetrical skirt mixed with armored greaves, giving a mix of elegant caster and stealth hacker.

Next to the girl is a Fox & thanks to his quick connection to Lira, Yuri sees that the fox is an Eidolon. The 2 walk towards the girl.



“Mira?” Yuri said questioning if he found her & when the pink haired girl turned around he seems the girl’s Orange eyes filled with excitement & content.
She hugs Yuri & says, “Well done Yuri! You found me! Now when we’re together in the game refer me as Mira Sato or Sato ok?”She then whispers, “If anyone finds out that a game’s AI is with another player’s team I’ll worry they’ll delete me or something bad.”
“By they do you mean the developers or someone else?” Yuri questions “Yes! Oh this is my Eidolon, her name is Tikka.” Mira shows her Fox Eidolon to the 2.
Yuri pets the fox & says, “Nice to meet you Tikka! I hope that we can get along.”
Mira then takes Yuri’s hand
“Good now let’s let Lira & Tikka get along with each other while we talk somewhere private.”
As Lira & Tikka communicate & try to get along Mira takes Yuri into an alleyway & makes sure the area’s clear before they could chat
“Did you see the System Error!?” She says worrying
“Yeah it happened during my time in the Nexus.” Said Yuri
(“Lira & The System Eclipse. They’re connected! Something big & bad is going to happen, it’s a gut feeling I’m sure.”) Yuri thought to himself.
“Feels like the Game Disasters all over again.” Yuri said
Mira looks at him confused, “Game Disasters?” She said questioning Yuri
“Yeah.” “I’ll tell you more about it later.” “Ok?”
Yuri said as he sees Flashbacks of the SAO incident & The Battle of Gideon on Infinite Dendrogram that he saw through the internet.
Mira looks him with a worried face.“Alright.” She said.
Just then Yuri gets a quest notification, he checks the description of the quest & it says, [System Eclipse: The Beginning. Defeat the monster & save the city. Difficulty level: 6] “Ok a random quest popped up on me Mira. Look at this.”
Mira sees the quest & is confused at it like Yuri. Then all the other players were getting the same quest. “System Eclipse?” “Defeat what monster?”“The difficulty says it is gonna be a tough one.”Lira & Tikka then return to Yuri & Mira to tell them, 
(“Master you & Mira should look up right now!”)
(“Mistress Mira there’s something troublesome happening.”)
As the 4 look up they see that The Sky was flashing red with the word System Eclipse once more & then everything went dark.“This isn’t part of the festival script… Yuri, the Nexus it’s… rewriting itself!”Mira said in a shock as the system rewrites something during the Eclipse Festival’s last day.As the players are confused, worried & or ready from what warning the red sky has this time. A Hydra an 8 headed dragon monster looking all black & red appears out of nowhere above the City of Edolis.

“HYDRA!” 1 person said & the town goes into a panic while most hide for safety.

The Guards & players with there Eidolons get ready to battle The Hydra of Error.
The Hydra bombards the City with its onslaught but thanks to Queen Selene’s vision of this happening, counter-measures were made in time to disrupt the Hydra attack.
“Be ready to protect your home & our people! For the time for battle has come!” Says the Queen as all the Soldiers went out to battle.
Many players & there Eidolons put up a Valiant battle against the Hydra but it still rampages through town. Now spewing a violet-black like fog that is starting to corrupt the NPCs & players as they battle it out.The Corruption hits players hard & there Eidolons begin to act out & rebel against their partners. Too make matters even worse The Hydra’s corrupt breath awakens Shadow Eidolons to attack & destroy Edolis & it’s people.As most players & citizens are injured, plus Eidolons now running rampant a person in a white hooded robe walks to them with a dove & begins to heal everyone
“Take Shelter if you can & try not to fall in battle.” Said the hooded figure with a Female voice.

As she leaves to heal more people Everyone says, “Thank you,” to her as she walks off.

“So this is what it meant from the Quest. Defeat The Hydra to save everyone & the System Eclipse begins. If not then everyone will…”

As Yuri trembles to this while tightening his fist, The crowd continues to panic; most players scatter, others crash-logout. NPCs shatter into red cubes. Even Mira falters: “This… isn’t in the game’s parameters. Yuri—run—” 
Yuri runs, but towards the Hydra to help fight it. Lira follows & As the 2 rush towards the dragon they run past the white hooded girl with Yuri saying to her , “Get out while you can & let people know to come help fight if they can!”

As he continues through the hell that has been brought down onto the city.

As he gets closer to the Hydra his gauntlet flickers showing unstable & unusual glyphs.Yuri then sees Prince Ethan & Clover up ahead fighting the Shadow Eidolons.“Prince Ethan & Clover!? Lira let’s help them out!” 
Yuri then activates his gauntlet & uses his 1st power He dashes towards a Shadow Eidolon & as it’s ready to attack him he disappears leaving an afterimage which takes the hit. Yuri then appears behind & hits it with his gauntlet dealing pure damage destroying it with 1 hit.
Yuri: “Ethan! Clover! We’re here to help!”
Ethan: “Young Yuri you came at the right time.”
Clover: “Help us clear out these vermin before we lose the City.”
Yuri: “Right!”
Yuri keeps using his new Glitch Step move against all the Shadow Eidolons while Ethan & Clover continue to fight & save the citizens.
Yuri: (Lira is there any chance can you help out here)A shadow Eidolon appears behind Yuri & Attacks but Lira blocks it with her dark wing as counter, Yuri attacks back & the counter attack dishes out double damage to the enemy. 
Lira: (That’s 1 my moves it’s called Mirror Fracture I can use it as a counter attack in anyway I want.)
Yuri: Good move. Now let’s work together & take them out!Yuri then draws his sword gets ready for a serious battle
Mira: Tikka! Protect the townspeople!Tikka uses her tail to hack a barrier summon power. To shield the citizens.
Mira: Well Done. Now to debuff the enemy. Decrease Defense & resistance, lower attack power & finally low magic & health points.
Mira casts various debuffs on all the shadows running rampant making it easy to defeat them for other players & NPCs.Various Players & guards destroy them with ease“Take this foul creature!”
“Down with 1 hit?! Am I that strong?!
“It appears they’re all debuffed somehow so we must take the offensive before it’s too late.”
Mira: “Your welcome. That being said That Hydra is something else I can’t get a read on it.”
Clover: “We need to take out the Hydra or else these things will overwhelm us.”
Ethan: “The Hydra appears to have taken some damage by the Countermeasures Mother arranged but it’s not down yet.”
While everyone is fighting off the horde of shadow Eidolons, The Hydra surges & continues corrupting the city with its presence & breath.
Lira then begins to writhe with pain over the purple corruption gas now spreading through the town. Yuri cries out, clutching her:
“Don’t break apart on me now…! If this world is rewriting itself—then we’ll rewrite it too!” 
Mira helps the town by shielding the city from the corruption & Tikka hacking the system to remove or delay the Hydra.
“Well done Tikka! Keep it up while I try to protect as many as we can.”
As Mira looks at the Castle she thinks to herself, (“Is the Queen going to use it?”)As the Queen & King hurry to there Trump Card to stop the Hydra, they see a glow out the window as it is emanating from Yuri & Lira.“Dear, look is that Yuri?” said King Edwin.The Queen looks & she’s surprised! 
“Yes, Edwin it is. Right now he’s the only 1 who can stop it according to my vision.”

For the first time without using Telepathy, Lira speaks—her voice fractured, half melodic, half glitch:
“Yuto… if you accept both my light and shadow… I can awaken.”

He nods without hesitation. His gauntlet synchronizes with her corruption instead of rejecting it.
 Yuri looks the Gauntlet & sees it has a glyph. He touches it & shows a grappling hook from the glove.
Yuri uses the new grapple function to swing & run across the buildings until they were close enough to the Hydra.
Yuri: I’m going after the Hydra!
Ethan: Yuri you can’t fight it alone!
Yuri: I’m gonna have to try. Besides I got this feeling that Lira & I can win. We won’t falter right?
Lira: [shaking her head yes] (“Right!”)
Clover: “That boy is either crazy or determined.”

Yuri then swings off until the 2 were close enough to face the Hydra head on with his sword drawn & tries to infuse it with Lira’s  Pure & Shadow energy. 
Yuri: “ I hope this’ll work.”
It did with no error & he attacks the Hydra slashing all over its body but it only does little damage. 
The Hydra bats Yuri away knocking him down to the ground, but his drive won’t let him give up so easily.
As they continue the battle, the Tri-Lunar Eclipse happens again, but this time the eclipse’s light is centered around the 2 shielding them from the Hydra’s breath attack. Lira gains immense power & erupts into her Glass Seraph form (binary-winged angel, half pristine light, half corrupted void).The three moons converge into her wings, their colors spiraling through her body.
With a single beat of her wings, she launches a Reality-Severing Strike—a beam/slash attack of crystalline light wrapped in glitching shadow.
The Hydra freezes mid-scream, as Lira sliced all its heads off from the Reality-Severing Strike & then it fractures into millions of shards, and disintegrates instantly. 
The festival grounds are silent. Survivors stare as the corrupted debris dissolves into starlight, leaving behind a new Memory Shard in Yuri’s hands.Everyone then cheer for the defeat of the beast & the civilians thanked everyone who participated in the fight Most of the thanks goes to Yuri & Mira.
Mira stares wide-eyed: “…That power… it bypassed the Nexus’s own code. Yuri…”
Ethan: He actually did it!? Lucky boy he is.
Clover: What Incredible power! Who is he?
Kind Edwin: What a marvelous display. The Eclipse gave them the opportunity to destroy the Hydra!
Queen Selene: Indeed!  Well Done Yuri & Lira. You 2 have defeated the monster.
Emma: Could that really be you Yuri?

After the battle Yuri looks at Lira’s new evolved form & is surprised to see her “Master Yuri are you ok?” She said

End of Chapter 2
Next Time What is The System Eclipse?