Sword Art Online 012 – Alicization Rising Chapter 7 – The Two Supervisors 17 "Naturally, that was her aim. To show the masses the power of the Cardinal System and to instill a tremendous awe into them. With that psychological barrier and the «immortal walls», a physical barrier, she attempted to restrict the masses' movements and interactions. For the sake of letting the Axiom Church seize the transmission channels for news, so as to control the masses' hearts. She wished for the people to remain devoted believers of the church for eternity, staying ignorant and naive... —Those absurd immortal walls were not the end to the physical barriers she created. In order to restrain the various regions that pioneers resided in, from spreading out, Administrator set down many humongous objects. A huge, unbreakable rock; a swamp that could never be filled; a rapid, uncrossable stream; a gigantic, unfellable tree..." "H-Hold on. An unfellable tree... you say?" "Indeed. She granted a ridiculously-sized cedar tree near-infinite priority and durability." I instinctively recalled that demonic tree—the Gigas Cedar that possessed a hardness that would made one want to cry, and gently rubbed my two palms together under the table. In other words, that meant the Gigas Cedar did not spring forth naturally in the forest south of Rulid Village but was deployed by Administrator to restrict the villagers from expanding their livable area with its horrifying durability and ability to drain resources, as an artificial obstacle. So there were still many such objects around this world? And many humans have been persevering for hundreds of years of futile effort in order to remove them...? Raising my head, the girl who called herself Cardinal looked at me with that usual gaze saying that she saw through to my inner thoughts. Her tiny lips moved and her placid words streamed on.