Kirito and Eugeo have been rescued by the young girl, Cardinal, who secludes herself inside the Central Cathedral’s Great Library Room. Her true identity is that of an autonomous program which coordinates the preservation of order in the Underworld, a virtual world.
Cardinal explains to Kirito how the Axiom Church and the Taboo Index came to be, starting with the Administrator’s past. Kirito can barely hide his incredulity, but Cardinal has yet another revelation: the grave danger now threatening the Underworld.