The Solitary Knight

"False knights, now you will feel the power of true justice!"

- Silver Knight

The Solitary Knight (孤高の騎士) is the eighth episode of .hack//Legend of the Twilight.

Story
Late at night in Mac Anu a lone Blademaster sprints through the city, trying to shake off several Cobalt Knights that are pursuing him. He uses his sword to destroy a wall and open a path, but finds himself facing Kamui who easily defeats him with a powerful special attack. Examining his sword she declares that it's an illegally edited item, and arrests him on the spot. The next day that player, along with two others are taken to the public square in Mac Anu and placed on a special apparatus designed to look like a slot machine. After a curious crowd gathers, Kamui appears and announces that all three of them are convicted hackers, and are to be deleted. Activating the machine the players begin to spin around, before being shot by a set of arrows that delete their character. Kamui addresses the crowd and warns them against hacking, but the crowd seems to disagree with her, saying that all three of the people deleted had only engaged in harmless item modification. Unknown to all, a dark figure watches the scene from a nearby alleyway.

Inside the hideout, Mireille, Ouka, Hotaru, and Sanjuro discuss the deletions. Sanjuro tells them that its only a matter of time before the Knights come after Shugo, since his Twilight Bracelet is considered an illegal item. Walking towards the hideout, Shugo overhears the end of the conversation. Coming outside Sanjuro tells him to lie low for awhile, to keep the Knights from learning of his existence. Shugo angrily responds that he's not going to sit back and hope that the Knight's rescue Rena, he intends to do it himself. Ignoring his friends warnings, Shugo runs off.

Meanwhile, in a special administration area Balmung and Reki talk to their supervisor, a CC Corp executive. Balmung says that Kamui's actions are out of line, and are going against the very purpose of The World. He asks the executive to give him authority over the problems in The World. His request is denied, and he is told to stay out of the Cobalt Knights way, as he is too soft with the players of The World. As they leave, Reki tells Balmung to listen to the executive, but Balmung accuses him of being Kamui's lapdog, and leaves to try and solve the problem himself. Reki chases after, claiming the love affair was a misunderstanding. Out in a field in Theta Server, Shugo fights against a multitude of monsters, trying to find a Data Bug. To his dismay he is only able to find normal ones, angry he returns to town, unaware that his friends have been following him. Hotaru comments on how strong Shugo's become, Sanjuro is pleased that his student has made so much progress.

In Theta Server's Root Town Dun Loireag Shugo storms through the town. Three of the hackers, Michi, Daisuke, and Hayato watch him from a distance. Michi says that he's been trying to draw out one of their Data Bugs and suggests sending one after him, but Hayato and Daisuke remind her that it's impossible, since the Cobalt Knights are watching their every move. Hayato receives an e-mail from Katsuyuki, and the three log out to see what he wants. In the real world Katsuyuki tells them that Rena has awakened, and is wandering around the prison they constructed for the coma victims. He asks if there was an error in their program, but Hayato says that he followed the programming instructions to the letter. He logs back in and teleports into the prison, wanting to see things first hand.

Inside the prison, Rena completes her exploration of the dungeon. She tells Aura that while it looks like a normal dungeon, there is no exit, the entire area is just a gigantic loop. She asks Aura what she knows about it, and Aura says that they are in a special area, constructed off The World's main servers. It's because of this that she can only partially manifest, and why her powers are limited. Suddenly Hayato gates in behind them, Rena turns and looks at him in shock.

At the Cobalt Knights headquarters, Kamui asks her assistant Magi about the latest hacker they caught. Magi tells her that the player has been proclaiming his innocence, saying that his data was altered by another player. Curious Kamui goes to question the player herself, who turns out to be none other than Komiyan III. Komiyan's character data has been altered, so that he is half PC, half frog. He tells Kamui that his appearance is all because of Shugo, and his Data Drain technique. Magi recognizes Shugo as one of Balmung's friends, and Kamui orders his immediate arrest.

Back at the prison, Rena is overjoyed to see another player. She begins asking Hayato a number of questions, but he pretends that he's just a kid who snuck onto his older brother's computer. Recognizing Aura, he pulls off his headset, leaving his PC body frozen in the prison. Aura begins to examine his PC body, and tells Rena that she can find their current location by hacking into his PC. Back in reality Hayato tells Katsuyuki that Aura is there, and that she was responsible for waking up Rena. Unsure of what to do, Kaysuyuki says that he's going to contact "Her". Logging on himself, he speaks into a special terminal, and begins receiving advice from a disembodied voice. Suddenly he notices Aura's hacking and orders Hayato to log out. Hayato does so, but not before Aura is able to track their servers location to the Japanese servers of The World.

Shugo warps into Carmina Gadelica ready to take a break. Walking through the streets he notices that every player there seems afraid of him. Suddenly he is stopped by a squadron of Cobalt Knights. Though happy to see them at first, he grows angry when he realizes that they intend to arrest him as a hacker. The Knights prepare to attack him, but are interrupted when a player emerges from a nearby rooftop to challenge them. Looking up Shugo sees Silver Knight, who declares the Cobalt Knights as a pack of thugs who are ruling by fear. Leaping down he fights off the squadron and tells Shugo to escape. Shugo responds by hitting the Knights with a Drain Arc, transforming them into scarecrows. Smiling Silver Knight waves Shugo away, and prepares to fight off the Knight's reinforcements.

Having received his instructions, Katsuyuki orders Hayato to increase the protective field on their prison. He tells him that he's been given permission to advance their plan to the next stage, but that before they can begin Aura must be removed from their server. Smiling, Hayato begins to work.

In Mac Anu, a crowd gathers around a new deletion platform. Sanjuro and the rest of Shugo's party gather around, and Sanjuro is shocked to see that Silver Knight is the one strapped to the wheel. When Mireille asks who he is, Sanjuro tells her that he was a famous player who used to be a Captain in a group known as the Crimson Knights, and that at one time his face was known to every player in The World. Kamui tells the crowd that because he aided an illegal player, he is to be deleted. Silver Knight interrupts her, saying that she is nothing more than a tyrant who is using her power to control The World with fear. He tells her that she is a false knight, and has forgotten what justice truly is. Angry but self-controlled, Kamui pulls the wheel and deletes Silver Knight. After receiving a mail, Balmung returns to the administrative area. His supervisor tells him that because he ignored orders and continued hunting for the coma victims, that he has been stripped of his powers as a system administrator. Balmung wonders how they could have known, and is informed that the complaint report came from his assistant Reki. In the Cobalt Knights headquarters, Kamui gloats over Balmung's demotion, and teases Reki about selling out his boss. Reki tells her that Balmung never respected his work anyway, and reminds her that he was just looking after his new girlfriend.

Inside the prison Aura creates a miniature Chaos Gate which she says will allow Rena to contact the normal servers. She tells Rena to send a mail to Shugo, so he can trace it back to her location. Suddenly her form begins to shimmer, as Hayato finishes his protection program. Desperate, Rena uses the Chaos Gate to send a mail and moments later both Aura and the Gate disappear, locked out by Hayato.

Sitting alone in a field, Shugo stands up and, having received the mail, shouts, 'RENA!'

Trivia

 * Shugo loses a tooth in this episode after Sanjuro accidentally slams a door in his face.
 * When Silver Knight is deleted one of Subaru's feathers falls out of his armor. He also shouts her name as his last words.