Accel World (先飞看刀)

“Equip…«The Destiny».”

The voice command emitted from Haruyuki’s mouth quietly vibrated the parched air of the «Scorched Earth» stage.

The distant howling wind, the warning sound emitted by the restlessly blinking HP gauge a few pixels remaining in width, and the crashing sound of the approaching opponent «Cyan Pile» breaking through the heavy walls disappeared as if a switch had been cut off.

In the center of the wide room surrounded by scorched concrete, Haruyuki, who was enveloped in a dense silence, suddenly felt an unbelievably strong sensory signal explode at a point inside his body.

Intense pain.

It was completely as if a searing hot spear had deeply penetrated the area between his shoulder blades. A white halo of light occurred within his field of vision; innumerable sparks ran inside his head. His virtual breathing stopped; even his thoughts became a countless number of fragments and dispersed.

“…Nn…gh…aah..!!”

Haruyuki, who had contorted his entire body back like a bow and was on the verge of letting out a hoa.r.s.e shout, suddenly became aware of somebody’s voice resounding either very far away or closer than anywhere else.

—It’s useless.

—It’s already too late to separate my medium and me.

—The «Destiny» that guides the «Armor» was able to be set to be unchangeable by much anger, lament, and despair. I only seek blood. Only an ending, only ma.s.sacre. Only endlessly repeating disaster.

In his white-filled vision, like a movie folder played in continuous preview mode, a number of fragmented images flashed by one after another.

In all of them, knight-cla.s.s duel avatars whose entire bodies were covered in blackened silver-colored heavy armor were projected in the center. However, some detailed designs differed.

One had countless teeth growing from the edges of its hood-shaped helmet.

One had a face whose entirety extended forward as if it were some kind of tentacle.

One had long silver hair draping from the bottom of its helmet to its feet.

One spewed crimson flames from its head, which could only be thought of as having the shape of a dragon’s head.

And then, there was one who wore its sharply pointed visor low over its eyes and brandished an ominous, large sword.

Haruyuki intuitively realized that they were the successive generations of the «Chrome Disaster». Their forms were different, but their armor colors and the auras of darkness in which they were clad as well as their insane fighting styles were commonly shared. Inside the images, as if aroused by something the knights wielded their swords, using their claws to tear away and their teeth to pierce. In the midst of the duel avatars being slaughtered as if they were not worthy of being opponents, the Chrome Disasters howled and became agitated – and then, they seemed as if they were lamenting something.

At the same time the images disappeared, that voice resounded once again.

—Destroy. Then devour. That is your true desire.

—Devour, steal, become infinitely strong. Until the time you remain all alone on the wastelands of the Accelerated World.

—Until the time of demise.

In the center of his spine, from the precise location where in the past the fifth-generation Disaster’s «Wire Hook» had deeply penetrated, a pain resembling pale blue lightning was periodically produced, and it pierced as far as the extremities of his four limbs. But Haruyuki ground his teeth and refused to let out his voice.

If he lost here to the impulse to destroy, everything would have been for naught.

The sorrow of Niko, who had executed her «parent» and closest friend «Cherry Rook» in order to make a sacrifice due to her obligations as a King.

The thoughts of Chiyuri, who had brought back the running amok Haruyuki and had restored the Armor once again to its seed.

The wish of Kuroyukihime, who had extended her hand to Haruyuki, who was cowering at the bottom of the Local Net, and had given him wings by the name of hope.

And the prayer of one girl dwelling in a corner of the Armor, who had been waiting a long, long time—

The pain augmented without limit, and before Haruyuki knew it, it had even transcended his material senses, becoming an overwhelming storm of energy and trying to tear up his consciousness.

If he just called the name «Disaster», it would be easy. Although he understood that, he mustered his remaining mental strength, resisting with all his might.

And, at that moment. From the other side of the incandescent world, far, far away, he had the feeling that another voice had faintly reached him.

…Believe.

…It’s okay; if it’s you, you’ll definitely be able to do it…if it’s you, whom I’ve been waiting for a long, long time…

That voice was unmistakably that of the bright golden yellow girl who had appeared a moment earlier like an illusion. Haruyuki replied with his meager remaining ability to think.

—I’m sorry.

—I’m not the kind of special person who you’ve been waiting for. I have a mountain of worries and hesitations; I’m always making mistakes; I’m unable to trust others and always run away from them; despite that, if I were by myself I wouldn’t be able to walk straight; I’m a miserable guy.

—But, in the current me, there’s only one thing I can be proud of.

—I was able to become able to love others again. Not only that, but quite a number of people and anyone too. I still don’t like myself, and I still don’t trust myself, but I’m probably able to try hard for everyone’s sake. Though it’s not much, in order to protect the warm place where I belong, I’ll do anything I can, I’m sure.

In response to Haruyuki’s thought, which resembled a light on the verge of burning out, somebody’s voice responded gently.

…That alone is enough.

…Because, that alone is the proof of strength.

Snap; a faint, yet certain something that resembled a cracking sound was produced inside of Haruyuki.

It was not the reverberation of something collapsing. It was a sound of a hard, hard seed bursting from the inside. A sound of birth.

A clear silver color like that of cold, thawing snow overflowed, gushed out, and washed away the pain of the searing heat. Haruyuki opened his eyes wide.

At the fingertips of his one remaining right arm, smooth, shining supplemental armor was being generated. An «Armor» sporting a far purer, truer silver color than Silver Crow’s armor color.

The design was rea.s.suring, but there was no ill omen in it. From the back of his hand to his wrist, his upper arm, his elbow, the armor was equipped while resounding with metallic sounds one after another. Each time some reliable weight was added, Haruyuki was filled with an energy double the size of the weight, and his body conversely became lighter.

Haruyuki intuitively understood that this silver Enhanced Armament was the original form of «The Disaster».

The inscription «The Destiny». Zeta, the sixth star of the «Seven Arcs». Surely it was this armor, the Divine Weapon enshrined in the deepest reaches of the Imperial Palace side by side with the fifth star Epsilon, the straight sword «The Infinity».

Once, «someone» in the distant, distant past who succeeded in penetrating the Imperial Palace had procured this Destiny. However, after that, «something»—the «many sad things» mentioned by the bright golden yellow colored girl had occurred; the shape of the Armor had been distorted and had become the «Disaster». The term «verified four Divine Weapons» mentioned by Kurasaki Fuuko and Shinomiya Utai referred to the Blue King’s large sword «The Impulse», the Green King’s large shield «The Strife», the Purple King’s bishop’s staff «The Tempest», and one more, «The Disaster» possessed by Haruyuki himself.

If one tried to comprehend the unbelievable abilities concealed in «The Disaster Armor», one could understand. Being one of the «Seven Arcs», while the seventh star Eta still remained untouched, if one considered the fact that Epsilon was also essentially in a sealed state, without exaggeration the Disaster Armor was the strongest Enhanced Armament in the Accelerated World.

Haruyuki was currently trying to summon its original form, the one before its alteration, by calling the Armor’s original name.

If he succeeded in doing so, even if he equipped it, it would not interfere with his mind. At the same time, the «Future Prediction Function» used to slaughter easily the formidable enemy «Rust Jigsaw» would not exist, but that ability was not necessary for this fight.

He did not want to triumph over Cyan Pile, who had equipped the «ISS Kit».

He merely wanted to convey something to Tak.u.mu, who had continued to blame himself and had finally been ensnared by the abyss of deep despair. How much Arita Haruyuki believed in the person Mayuzumi Tak.u.mu, how much he relied on him, and how much he needed him.

In order to deliver the last blow with his fist in which he had put in that emotion. With his remaining scant HP gauge, he wanted to borrow the power to break through that aura of darkness.

As if answering to Haruyuki’s wish, the pure silver-colored armor continued its formation. A large-cla.s.s piece of elbow plate armor was generated, and light extended toward his chest.

—However.

When the armor tried to reach his shoulder, suddenly an intense feeling of resistance was produced. In the interior of his ears, a ferocious howl faintly roared.

Haruyuki realized that that was the will dwelling inside the armor; namely, the voice of the beast by the name of the «Disaster Armor». The beast had not disappeared. It had become enraged by the summoning of only «The Destiny», which was the Enhanced Armament that had become the medium.

Letting out a creaking sound, the silver armor stopped its development at the point where it had covered Haruyuki’s right shoulder halfway.

In the left side of his field of vision, a line of system font blinked irregularly. He was able to read as far as YOU EQUIPPED AN ENHANCED ARMAMENT THE…, but all that followed were the letters D, S, and T floating indistinctly.

All the voices and pain went far away and eventually disappeared.

A moment of silence filled the black, sooty s.p.a.ce characteristic of the «Scorched Earth» stage corresponding to a portion of the first floor of the B building of his apartment house in the real world. In the center of the dark room, Haruyuki raised his right arm equipped with the new armor and clenched his fist tightly.

Immediately after, while breaking into pieces the wall opposite him crumbled, and a large silhouette appeared from within.

The aura of darkness in which Cyan Pile—Tak.u.mu was clad augmented in density. The original light blue armor color was covered and hidden; only the crimson glint of the eye of the «ISS Kit» residing in the Enhanced Armament «Pile Driver» of his right arm glittered vividly.

His thin-slit eye lenses also had changed from their previous light blue color to a dull purple. With those eyes, Tak.u.mu stared hard at Haruyuki. Finally, a quiet voice.

“Is that the original form of the «Disaster Armor»?”

Even when spurred on by the urges of destruction and ruin, it seemed he had not lost his discernment. Haruyuki looked down at his right arm covered in the new armor and nodded.

“Uh huh. Though I could only summon one arm’s worth…”

“That alone’s still an extraordinary feat. You’re probably the first to struggle against the power of the «Armor», which has swallowed so many Burst Linkers up until now.”

Although Tak.u.mu’s voice was placid, his intonation was weak, and his echo reverberated somewhat hollowly.

“…You’re strong, Haru. Even while you knew you could gain several times or tens of times more power if you gave in to the allurement of the Armor, you were able to fight it. If the Armor had parasitically infested me instead, I would have been immediately completely controlled and would have bared my fangs at you, Chii-chan, and Master…”

“No way, Taku. You would have been able to summon not just one arm, but the entire body of «The Destiny». I believe that.”

While staring at Cyan Pile’s face mask, Haruyuki immediately a.s.serted that. However, as if trying to escape from that gaze and those words, Tak.u.mu hanged his head down deeply and whispered in a slightly trembling voice.

“…You still don’t understand, Haru. That I’m…not a human that deserves to been talked about in that way. I only smooth things over on the surface…in the seed, inside my heart, I’m always envying and hating someone else. I don’t wish for other’s happiness; I wish for their misfortune. If my rivals’ grades dropped, I’d laugh from the shadows; if the guys who I’m competing with for a regular spot on the team got injured, I’d think it serves them right. When my dear two childhood friends who had always been together since they were small became distant from one another…while pretending to be worried, I secretly felt relieved. That is me. The true figure of the human Mayuzumi Tak.u.mu!”

Together with that blood-spitting shout, from his eye slits devoid of light, a number of white drops spilled out and fell.

At the same time, from his entire body an even greater black aura burst forth and reached almost to the ceiling.

Thump. Beneath his right foot that had taken one step forward, the burnt, hardened ground of the «Scorched Earth» stage cracked into pieces. A pressure so strong that it would blow Haruyuki away if he lost his focus pressed in on him, but Haruyuki resisted it and opened his mouth another time.

“Taku, about that; I’m just the same as you.”

Earnestly suppressing his voice that was nearly about to tremble, he talked quietly, quietly.

“If we compared the number of people we’ve cursed inside our hearts, I’m sure mine is ten times more than yours. Do you think I’ve never been jealous of you or envied you up until now? Why I’m somehow able to resist the allure of the «Armor» now is simply because I’m as black as the Armor on the inside.”

“…”

Temporarily silent, Tak.u.mu, who had just slightly reduced the violently blowing jet black storm, swayed his shoulders slightly.

“…Fu, fufu. Your way of saying things hasn’t changed at all since you were small. That’s right…you were doing that from the past, properly controlling the black part inside your heart. Different from me, who tried to shut it away and gloss over it…”

“We’re not different! I’m the same as you! Wavering, worrying, b.u.mping into the next wall when I thought I had progressed a step…in spite of that, the reason I’ve been able to come to where I am now is because you were at my side! Surely you can resist that black power too! Break through it, and advance forward again! Isn’t that right, Taku!!”

In response to Haruyuki’s earnest call—

He had the feeling that Tak.u.mu faintly smiled behind the mask.

“…Thank you. Thank you, Haru. If you put it like that…maybe it wasn’t worthless for me to have become a Burst Linker and to have fought until now. However…for that reason, until the end, for your sake…for the legion’s sake, I wanted to use my own power. This…«ISS Kit’s» ability to dominate is overwhelming…I don’t know anymore how much of this impulse to destroy that’s about to overflow any moment is mine and how much is the lure of the Kit…”

His murmuring voice was quiet. But that quietness was full of some sort of immense foreboding inside.

Brandishing the throbbing blood-colored eyeball stuck to the «Pile Driver» of his right arm, Tak.u.mu continued in a strained voice.

“…This parasite was probably created by a skilled someone of the «King» cla.s.s from a composite of his abilities and special techniques as well as the Incarnate system. The more you fight…the more you devour enemies, the stronger the power produced. And then one day it splits and makes a «Child»…no, a «Clone».”

“…A clone…”

Haruyuki shuddered at the nature of the Kit, which seemed to intentionally contaminate the «Parent» system that was at the root of Brain Burst. Tak.u.mu let down his arms, and while seeming even more as if he were withstanding something, he opened his mouth again.

“What’s terrifying is…the Kit’s fellow «clones» are linked through the medium of negative imagination. When Burst Linkers who possess clones belonging to the same cl.u.s.ter breed black feelings like hatred, malice, and anger inside the Kit, the Parent and Child Kits also display even stronger power. In short, the more the clones are disseminated, the stronger one becomes…”

“If…if that’s true…are you saying that Burst Linkers who obtain the Kit will compete to spread their clones..?

In response to the question that Haruyuki asked with a hoa.r.s.e voice, Tak.u.mu nodded deeply.

“Uh…even now…I feel the black feelings flowing from the Burst Linker who gave me this Kit in the Setagaya area, «Magenta Scissor», and «Bush Utan», «Olive Grab», and others who possess her first-order clones like myself. And simultaneously, the darkness I’ve fostered strengthens them…”

—Basically.

The network of «ISS Kit» clones was a malicious imitation of the legitimate «Parent» as well as «Legion» systems. As a rule, if parents and children and legions were bound by the positive ties of love and camaraderie, then the «ISS Clones» were linked by the negative chains of the search for only for power and victory.

Tak.u.mu’s voice, which resembled the creaking of cracked gla.s.s on the verge of cracking, reached the speechless Haruyuki.

“Now…if we don’t do something soon, then like a terrifying contagious disease, the «Kit» will completely cover the Accelerated World in the blink of an eye. We don’t have the leeway to wait for the Seven Kings’ meeting four days later and their decision. I will get the name of the ringleader from «Magenta Scissor», who is probably exceedingly close to the source of the spread of the Kit. Even if I cross swords with him, I intend to procure information about the Kit. His motivation and objective may be unclear, but the guy who would go so far as to scheme this must have prepared a method to control the situation…”

Thump. Tak.u.mu took another step forward, looked down at Haruyuki from a mere two meters away, and whispered.

“Afterwards, I’m leaving it to you, Haru. Even if I lose all my points in the fight with the ringleader, before I lose my memory, I will transmit to you what I’ve learned by any means. Because you’ll save this world. You can do it…and only you. That is what I believe.”

“…Taku.”

Haruyuki somehow called the name of his friend in a barely audible voice.

He was not able to express any more words than that.

—Resolution.

Right now, the reason why Tak.u.mu was barely able to keep resisting the ISS Kit’s frightening ability to dominate was earnestly due to his resolution as solid as a rock. He had already made up his mind. His own place of death. His final battle.

—However.

The source of that resolution was self-despair. The fact that he had lost to the temptation of the ISS Kit. The fact that he had slaughtered the PK group «Supernova Remnant» due to his anger. The fact that he had set up the «Back Door Program» in Chiyuri and had attacked Kuroyukihime. And finally—the fact that in the faraway past, he had destroyed their circle of three childhood friends.

Tak.u.mu had made up his mind that those were sins unforgivable by any means. He had changed that despair into resolution and was trying to face his final battle.

“…I can’t let you go.”

In a quivering voice resembling that of a child restraining his sobbing, Haruyuki spoke.

“It’s impossible for me to say «I understand, leave it to me afterwards». I can’t sacrifice just you and continue to be a Burst Linker afterward.”

“…Fufu…Forever stubborn, aren’t you…”

Smiling as if he were genuinely happy, Tak.u.mu spoke.

“I forced you into a direct connection duel, wanting to hear you say that…but it’s enough. Thank you, Haru. With your feelings as my energy, it seems I’ll be able to be myself for a little longer. —Now, it’s about time we ended this.”

He lifted his burly left hand and clenched his fingers in order starting from his pinky. The condensed aura of darkness slighted vibrated the entire stage.

As if to answer him, Haruyuki confronted him and tightly clenched his right fist clad in the silver Enhanced Armament. He raised his face and slowly nodded.

“…Yeah. We’ve both already said to each other everything that could be said in words.”

That’s right.

In short, nothing would happen or end unless they exchanged blows with their fists. That was the reason that they had dived into this duel stage, and that was also the sole reason for which Brain Burst existed.

From his entire duel avatar, which had lost its left arm and left wing, Haruyuki gathered all his strength of will and focused it in his right fist. His silver Over-Ray split the raging waves of darkness and pushed them back.

The sixth star Zeta «The Destiny» of the Seven Arcs had somehow succeeded in summoning only one arm, but in terms of absolute ability it did not reach «The Disaster». It possessed neither the vast battle data acc.u.mulated over years nor the Mind Power of wrath and hatred carved by successive generations of users.

However, the Destiny had one thing within it that the Disaster did not.

That was «hope». A ray of hope glittering like the stars, protected over a long, long number of years by a bright golden yellow female-cla.s.s avatar residing in a nook of the Armor. It was unknown who she was, why her consciousness was carried in the Armor, and what she wished for, but that faint warmth rallied Haruyuki. Unlike the way the Disaster urged one on to conflict, it supported his back and encouraged him.

…Now that I think about it, I was always being supported by someone else.

The time of the very first «duel in the hospital», the following battle with the fifth generation Chrome Disaster, the decisive battle with Dusk Taker, the occasion of the Hermes Code Race, even at the door protected by Suzaku, one of the Four Sacred Beasts…Kuroyukihime-senpai, Chiyu, Master Raker, Ash-san, Niko, Pard-san, Mei-san, and of course Taku always protected and encouraged me. There probably hasn’t even been once where I won a fight with only my own strength.

But that’s fine.

Because those ties…those bonds are the true strength of a Burst Linker.

I want to convey that to you as well, Taku. I want you to understand that there are many people who think about you and need you.

—In order to do that, please lend me your power.

He did not hear a voice respond to the appeal he had made inside his heart. However, a definite heat was produced in the center of his fist, became a much more dazzling white light, and gushed forth.

Tak.u.mu slowly pulled his left fist back.

Haruyuki also drew back his right fist and sharply extended his five fingers.

The simultaneous p.r.o.nunciation of the techniques’ names reverberated quietly and far, almost as if Haruyuki and Tak.u.mu were sympathizing with each other.

“«Dark Blow».”

“«Laser Sword».”

The instant when the jet black and silver paths blended—following the already collapsed A building, the B building where the two confronted each other became innumerable heaps of objects and scattered radially.

When he had been hit by the same Incarnate technique—«Dark Blow» some number of minutes ago, Haruyuki was unable to stand its immense impact for even a second and had been sent flying several dozen meters straight backward. Rather, the fact that he had not been torn into pieces was wondrous.

However, this time, although he was pushed back at first he held his ground and repelled Tak.u.mu’s fists just the slightest bit. At a central point in the few dozen centimeters’ distance separating the hands of the struggling two, two colors of auras scattered sparks and clashed violently.

The supreme protection of the Divine Weapon «The Destiny» was frightening. In terms of only defensive functions, it might have been stronger than the «Disaster», which had transferred most of its potential to offensive aspects. However, it was useless continuing only to struggle at this rate. He must break the raging storm of darkness with his light and convey his message to Tak.u.mu. That he did not have a single unpardonable sin. That all the members of the legion needed him. And finally—that no matter at what bottom of a pit of darkness he was, if he looked up at the sky, the light of the stars would always be there illuminating the way.

—Reach.

—Reach!!

To Haruyuki’s earnest prayer, namely his Mind Power.

Ring, a reverberation like the ringing of a bell responded.

A pure Over-Ray spread across the entirety of the supplemental silver armor covering his right arm. Simultaneously, from the tip of his right hand, which had all five fingers extended out, a sword of light began to stretch little by little, little by little.

Haruyuki’s «Laser Sword» was an Incarnate technique cla.s.sified as «Range Expansion». The source of his power was the wish to extend his hand to a place that wasn’t here—

For a long time, Haruyuki had believed that that was basically the act of running away. He wanted to run away from himself, unsightly and always cowering. He wanted to run away from the guys who bullied him. He wanted to run away from the annoyed gaze cast by his mother. He wanted to run away from the memory of his father who said he didn’t need him. Running away, running away, reaching his hand out to place where he was not…

However, there was no such thing as «a place where he was not».

No matter where he went, he would be there himself. The hand he extended would always be linked to himself.

Reaching out his hand was basically an active movement joining himself and his target.

—Therefore, this silver colored light is surely joining together Tak.u.mu and me. It will convey my heart to him. It will overwrite the defensive and offensive calculations carried out digitally by the Brain Burst system and create a small miracle.

—Reach, him..!

Accompanied by a strong echo, Haruyuki’s shout inside his heart resounded throughout the field.

The pure, shining silver light melted the high-density darkness, penetrated through it, and progressed little by little, little by little.

It was no longer a sword. Extending from Silver Crow’s right arm was Haruyuki’s own flesh-and-blood arm.

—Taku!!

—I, need, you..!!

At the tip of his hand extended with all his mind and soul, from the far side of the gloomy darkness, he could suddenly see something.

It was a white left hand, armor-less like his own. It was Tak.u.mu’s hand, filled with hard calluses from daily kendo practice swings.

His tightly squeezed fingers trembled with a twitch. They timidly began to uncurl, closed again, and relaxed once again. While wavering, they reached forth, trying to approach Haruyuki’s hand…

At that moment.

In the s.p.a.ce between the two of them, a dark blood-colored light sharply exploded like an infinite number of needles.

“..!?”

Pulled back from the hallucination guided by his imagination circuits to the duel field, Haruyuki saw an unbelievable sight.

On Cyan Pile’s right arm, which was guarding his chest, the eyeball-shaped «ISS Kit» infesting the surface of his «Pile Driver» opened its «eye» wide as if it were about to spill out and deeply scattered a light resembling fresh blood.

From the vicinity of the eyeball, black tissues extending like blood vessels gathered in a place about ten centimeters away and created a round protuberance.

The protuberance rapidly grew to the same size as that of the adjacent eyeball. The black tissue surface split sideways with a snap. What was slowly opening vertically was nothing other than an eyelid. What appeared from within was another eyeball—

From the surface of Tak.u.mu’s horizontally aligned right arm, the two eyes of the «ISS Kit» aligned left and right stared at Haruyuki from point-blank range. From their interiors, Haruyuki could surely feel the will of somebody. A bottomless sense of hunger. The impetus to destroy. The thirst for multiplication. And then—hatred.

“Wh…why..!”

It was Tak.u.mu, whose Mind Power had been fighting with Haruyuki’s through his left fist, who had shouted. This was probably an unexpected phenomenon to he himself as well.

“I haven’t given the command yet..! Despite that, why have the «Clones»..!?”

At almost the same time Haruyuki realized the meaning of those words—from the surroundings of the second eyeball, over ten black, thin tentacles extended forth and pierced Silver Crow’s breast.

Cold.

No, hot.

The abnormal sensory signal ran through his entire body’s nervous system. It was wholly as if ice water had been poured into all his blood vessels using sharp needles. The cl.u.s.ter of capillary tubes resembling microwires slipped deeply, deeply into his body. Surrounding his heart, coiling around his lungs, climbing his spine, reaching inside his head—

Haruyuki became unable to move. He couldn’t let out his voice either.

Although his avatar’s chest had been penetrated deeply by over ten tentacles, his HP gauge only a few percent remaining had not decreased even one dot. But that in itself expressed the abnormality of the phenomenon. The silver Over-Ray overflowing from his right arm swayed irregularly and flickered. His extended «Laser Sword» also melted and collapsed like light snow.

Under ordinary circ.u.mstances, at this instant the two’s Mind Power equilibrium would have collapsed, and Cyan Pile’s «Dark Blow» would have blown Silver Crow away without a trace.

However, that had not happened. As for why, at the same time Haruyuki’s Mind Power had swayed, Tak.u.mu had also retracted his left hand and had shouted.

“Don’t you…dare touch Haru..!!”

While still enveloped in an aura of darkness, his left hand grabbed hold of the bundle of black wires that had been fired forth from his own right arm and had pierced Haruyuki’s chest. Twisting his entire body, he pulled with all his might. However, like some sort of living creature the wires shuddered, fighting and refusing to be pulled out.

The eyes of Haruyuki, whose body was numb and unable to move, and Tak.u.mu, who was continuing to pull the black tentacles violently with his left hand, met.

He had a feeling—that Tak.u.mu had smiled. In that smile, there was none of the emptiness tinged with deep resignation that he had shown several times during this duel. It was the trustworthy, warm smile that was always there if he looked sideways that Haruyuki had seen in their day-to-day fighting alongside each other.

Cyan Pile’s right arm moved; he pushed the muzzle of his Enhanced Armament Pile Driver against his own throat.

“…T, Taku..!”

From the bottom of his throat, Haruyuki imploringly squeezed out that single word—

At exactly the same time, Tak.u.mu resolutely called the technique name.

“«Lightning Cyan Spike»!!”

From the gap between the adhering muzzle and his thick armor, a pale blue light vehemently burst forth. Immediately after, from the nape of Cyan Pile’s neck, a streak of lightning pointed at the sky of the Scorched Earth stage rose high, high up.

Tak.u.mu, who had used his own special technique to bore through his avatar’s vital spot, unsteadily leaned backward; right before he was about to fall, he held his ground. His entire HP gauge, which was still remaining close to forty percent, flushed a bright red and drained precipitously from the right—and reached zero.

The movement of the black wires, which were slipping deeply inside Haruyuki’s body and about to reach the center of his head at any moment, stopped. Feebly dangling down, they were slowly dragged out of his chest and disappeared as if dissolving into the air.

The «second eye» born from Cyan Pile’s right arm also closed its eyelid as if vexed and disappeared as if being absorbed into the first eyeball.

“…I’m glad it’s over…”

He said that one phrase—

The bulky blue body of Cyan Pile, who had completely lost his black aura, became splinters of gla.s.s and dispersed in all directions.

In the center of the Scorched Earth stage, which had turned into the shape of a violently burnt, enormous crater, Haruyuki remained alone. From his right arm, the silver Enhanced Armament was removed as if unraveling.

As if to escape from the flaming words «YOU WIN!» displayed in the center of his field of vision, he looked up at the sky of the stage deepening into twilight.

An ineffable whirlpool of emotions filled his bosom, overflowed from his eyes, and blurred the sky’s purplish red color. The duel ended, and until the moment when he withdrew from the Accelerated World, Haruyuki’s avatar’s shoulders only quietly trembled.

When he returned to the real world, the moment he opened his eyelids Haruyuki felt a drop of water splatter on his right cheek.

It was the teardrop Tak.u.mu had spilled the instant before the direct connection duel had begun.

Tak.u.mu, who had burst out at nearly the same time, was still pinning down with his left hand the right shoulder of Haruyuki, who was lying p.r.o.ne on the bed, and was still grabbing the direct connection cable with his right. Tak.u.mu opened his eyes wide. On the other side of his gla.s.ses, a new drop of water was born and fell drip, drip onto his lenses. Directly above Haruyuki, his lips slightly quivered, and he let out a hoa.r.s.e voice.

“…I…”

However, unable to say any more than that, Tak.u.mu slowly fell prostrate and tumbled with a thump to the left side of Haruyuki.

The two of them were silent for a while, continue to lie diagonally next to each other on the wide single-sized bed.

At the tip of his vision—on Tak.u.mu’s ceiling, there was a thin polyfilm printed A2-sized poster affixed.

The subject of the poster was an adult kendo pract.i.tioner. Due to the fact that there was not a single word on the poster, it was probably a picture Tak.u.mu had found and printed himself. Since the composition was of him in the midst of releasing an overhead face strike from a diagonally opposite angle, the tip of his shinai[1] was blurred. Although it was merely a 2D picture, it had an impact so strong that Haruyuki’s body felt hot just by looking at it.

Through the direct connection cable still linking their two Neuro Linkers, Haruyuki asked a single thought.

Is that kendo pract.i.tioner your teacher, your senior?

After a slight pause, a quiet answer was returned.

“No. That person was last active fifty years ago.”

“Which means…the person whom you set as your target?”

“…Rather than that…the person whom I respected, probably. It’s too presumptuous for me to use the word “target.” At any rate, he won the national kendo championship six times in the nineties. That record hasn’t been broken in the fifty years that have pa.s.sed from then to now.”

“By the way…what’s the second place record?”

“Three times. Even that was quite an amazing feat, though.”

If that were true, then basically the kendo pract.i.tioner in the photo was the best swordsman of the real world j.a.pan—no, of the entire world. The moment he thought that, Haruyuki murmured.

“I wonder what kind of a feeling it was to be that strong…he probably doesn’t hesitate or worry at all…”

“…After he had retired and became a mentor, he said this in an interview. «I still haven’t been able to grasp anything. I’m in the state of wandering at the entrance of a pitch-black tunnel.»”

“…Huh…I see…”

Inadvertently letting out a sigh, Haruyuki expressed his train of thought.

“…But you know, if it were pitch-black, then you wouldn’t be able to know whether there were an entrance there. Maybe the exit’s right there.”

He cut short his thoughts for a moment, then continued.

“Comparing myself to that person is at a level far beyond presumptuous but…I…I also have thought time and time again up until now that I was in the middle of a tunnel with no exit…but there was an exit. Without fail, it was there…the next tunnel will come soon, but…in spite of that…”

While earnestly searching for the right words, Haruyuki turned his face left and saw the side of Tak.u.mu’s face eighty centimeters ahead. On the other side of the temples of his gla.s.ses traversing his white cheeks, his pupils, still moist with tears, stared wholeheartedly at the ceiling poster.

Resolving himself, Haruyuki spoke a single, crucial phrase in his natural voice.

“—Taku. At first, for my sake you stopped the Incarnate attack…«Dark Blow», didn’t you. In order to save me, you resisted against the «ISS Kit» and shot yourself, didn’t you. I believe that that action was the true you. Even if you once obtained the «Kit» and wielded its power of darkness…I believe that you will sever yourself from its seduction and be able to break out of the tunnel.”

He had been unable to say those worlds until now because he was afraid that when their conversation was over, Tak.u.mu would stood up, bid him farewell, and leave the room—in order to fight «Magenta Scissor» as well as the «Acceleration Research Society».

Though Haruyuki was holding his tongue, for a while Tak.u.mu said nothing while looking up at the ceiling.

After a good ten seconds had pa.s.sed, he said something unexpected, also using his natural voice.

“Haru…Yesterday, at the vocal solo presentation during music cla.s.s, you sung “Please Give Me Wings,” right?”

“…Uh, uh huh.”

While being bewildered, he nodded. Tak.u.mu sent him a fleeting glance, then continued while faintly smiling.

“Even though there were several other set pieces to choose from, why that one? Didn’t you hate that song in the past?”

“Ah…that’s true…”

The anxiety in his chest slightly went away, and Haruyuki also somewhat smiled wryly.

“…Well, I didn’t have a clear reason why I didn’t like it though…how should I put it; in the past, I thought that song had «something that will not come true» as its premise.”

“…”

While regarding Tak.u.mu out the corner of his eye, who was keeping silent to press him to go on, Haruyuki moved his mouth.

“I might have been prejudiced though…before the very first instance of the lyrics “If you will grant my wish now, I want wings,” I always had the feeling that…the line “Though I know it won’t be granted” was before it. That was too much like my own real feelings…I was never able to bring myself to like that song.”

He returned his gaze to the ceiling and raised his right hand. With his fingertips, he caressed the sky that was there beyond the wallpaper and concrete.

“However…when I listened again to the reference sound source in the homework file received last week, I thought that…maybe it wasn’t like that. Um…ummm…”

Explaining his state of mind with words was Haruyuki’s worst point. While moving his upward-facing right hand like a bird, Haruyuki moved his mouth earnestly.

“…In that song, maybe wishes coming true and not coming true aren’t that important. Wanting to go to the “free sky without sorrow” someday…while thinking that, always walking forward one step at a time: I think maybe it’s that kind of a song…basically…uh…what’s important is that…”

His language processing ability finally reached its limit at that point. In place of Haruyuki, who had become only able to flap his mouth open and shut, Tak.u.mu murmured softly.

“It’s not the «result» but the «means»…it’s in the continual process where something precious exists…”

“Y, yeah. My point exactly.”

Tightly clenching his still raised right hand, Haruyuki braced himself and spoke.

“Kuroyukihime-senpai said something to me a long time ago. That «strength» is not a word that only indicates having victory as the end result. In addition to that, Shinomiya-san also said something. That true strength is advancing forward even when losing, falling over, and failing…When I think that maybe that’s what that song is really trying to say…I’ve always disliked that song until now, but maybe I feel that it was just a little bit inexcusable of me…well, simply put, it might just be that if I become able to fly in the Accelerated World, I will also have been able to forgive that song…”

While lowering his arm with a light flap and putting it behind his head, Haruyuki added another phrase with a bitter laugh.

“One way or another, my singing was terrible though. I’m really glad that sound recordings at school without prior approval are restricted.”

“It wasn’t terrible, Haru.”

Haruyuki turned his eyes to the speaker of those words; he saw Tak.u.mu smiling while looking at the ceiling. Tak.u.mu softly closed his eyelids and murmured as if to remember yesterday’s cla.s.s.

“You didn’t notice, but Chii-chan was secretly crying. While listening to you sing “Please Give Me Wings” with all your might.”

“Eh…”

Haruyuki was suddenly at a loss for words, but Tak.u.mu quietly continued to speak without wiping away his smile.

“If I were the me of just a little while ago, the moment I saw Chii-chan like that I would have definitely inevitably become jealous and self-loathing…But…but you know, I was also happy then. I was happy in seeing you boldly sing that song and in seeing Chii-chan hear it and be moved to tears. At that moment…only at that moment, as if we had returned once more to the past…to our circle of three people…”

His voiced abruptly quivered at the end of the sentence; below his tightly closed eyelids, transparent drops flowed smoothly once again.

Touched with emotion, Haruyuki momentarily withstood his feelings. But he immediately turned his entire body left and spoke while propping up his upper body with his elbow.

“It’s not «like the past». It’s «now». That’s how we are at the moment. Taku, Chiyu and I, we need you now!”

For an instant, as if trying to flee from those words, Tak.u.mu averted his face to the left.

However, Haruyuki had the conviction that his words would reach his old friend’s heart. Having clashed all-out in the Accelerated World, through fist and fist—

Several seconds later.

Tak.u.mu, who had turned his body facing right again, looked at Haruyuki with his moistened eyes and whispered in a trembling voice.

“…Haru. I wonder if I’m also able to become like you. While fighting with the black emotions inside my heart…I wonder if I’ll be able to aim for the «sky» and be able to continue to walk forward…”

“O…obviously, Taku! You’re continuing to change too. From our duel a while ago, the «Lightning Cyan Spike» with which you shot yourself in the end is the proof of that.”

Haruyuki sidled up to Tak.u.mu, facing him, and grabbed his left shoulder with his right hand. He stared hard beyond the blue gla.s.ses wet with tears—

“Taku, Give me just a bit more time. Tomorrow, Wednesday…with the escape strategy starting at 7:00 P.M., I will definitely return alive from the Imperial Palace with Shinomiya-san. She’ll definitely be able to purify you of your «ISS Kit». One more day…for just one more day, resist the temptation of the Kit, Taku.”

“…”

Tak.u.mu did not respond immediately to Haruyuki’s earnest persuasion.

He covered his eyes; at last, he squeezed out a tense voice.

“…Yesterday night, I received the Kit from «Magenta Scissor» in the Setagaya area. At that point, the Kit was still in the «Sealed Card» state. In spite of that…when I came home, finished my meal and my bath, and slept in this bed…that spoke to me. Not with words…with feelings. It poured anger, hatred, jealousy, and every other negative feeling into me. Furthermore, by that time, I had removed my Neuro Linker. Throughout the night, I saw a long, long dream…when I woke up, my chest was filled to the brim with a black something…”

Haruyuki felt Tak.u.mu’s body suddenly shake through his palm. His close friend, who had hung his head even more, whispered forlornly wholly as if he had returned to his elementary school days.

“…Haru. I’m scared…it’s not just in my memory area anymore, it’s inside of me…tonight, what it’s going to show me in its unsealed form…will I be able to be myself as I am now until tomorrow...I’m unbearably scared of that…in our duel at first, I already no longer hesitated to wound you cruelly…”

—Although he was not equipping a Neuro Linker, he was being interfered with in the real world.

In principle, it was impossible. However, in truth it was a phenomenon Haruyuki had also experienced firsthand. Haruyuki himself had heard the voice of the «Disaster Armor» without accelerating or equipping his Neuro Linker.

However, if he thought about it, the «Thought Acceleration» implemented by the Brain Burst Program as if it were nothing was an absurd super-phenomenon. Not only that, two months ago Haruyuki had witnessed an actual example of a Burst Linker who had lost Brain Burst and had had his memories manipulated and deleted.

In short, that programmed possessed the ability to interfere with humans’ consciousnesses—with their very souls. If that were so, it wouldn’t be strange if something happened. Accept it, fight. Those were all he could do.

Haruyuki seized with even greater strength the left shoulder of Tak.u.mu, whose body was trembling bit by bit, and spoke.

“Then, Taku, today you’re going to stay at my place.”

“…Huh?”

That must have been completely unexpected to him; to Tak.u.mu, who had made an expression of mute amazement, Haruyuki began to jabber at high speed.

“Like in the past, if we sleep together in a huddle while playing games, you won’t have the time to see any scary dreams. But if it’s just two people, we can’t really call it sleeping in a huddle. If that’s so, let’s call Chiyu too. If we say we’re doing our homework together, my mom will also allow it. Wait, in reality we had homework for math and j.a.panese, didn’t we. Then you’ll take care of math, Chiyu’ll do j.a.panese, and I’ll serve the tea. Did you know? If we open the homework file in the Initial Acceleration s.p.a.ce/Blue World, that stingy file protection will become invalid, and we’ll be able to copy our answers!”

To the vehemently arguing Haruyuki, Tak.u.mu rounded his eyes but—

When he looked again at Tak.u.mu’s mouth, Haruyuki could make out a bitter smile that seemed to say “it can’t be helped.”

“…In the past, we often followed your lead like that and did quite a number of things that got adults angry at us.”

“Did I do that? I don’t remember.”

With his released right hand, which had been gripping Tak.u.mu’s shoulder for the longest time, he scratched his head forcedly. Tak.u.mu, who was again wearing an ironic smile that gradually turned into a genuine one, removed his gla.s.ses and wiped his eyes with a jerk before speaking.

“It can’t be helped…you shouldn’t let exhaustion from homework affect the Imperial Palace escape strategy tomorrow. I’ll come help you out. However, as your Burst Linker senior, I can’t allow you to use a point just for the purpose of copying answers. Since I’ll be teaching you how to approach the problem, you should do the calculation by yourself.”

“What—…”

While appearing displeased, Haruyuki blinked several times and shook off the feeling that was sinking in.

The «ISS Kit» inside Tak.u.mu had not yet disappeared. Even now, it was on the alert, surely looking for another opportunity. Similar to how Haruyuki’s «Disaster Armor» had done so.

However, only one time, even if for only one arm, Haruyuki had repelled the dominating power of the Amor and had summoned its original, «The Destiny». If he could, then Tak.u.mu could also do it. The act of continuing to resist the lure of the Kit for twenty-four more hours until the «Shrine Maiden of Purification» Ardor Maiden returned alive from within the Imperial Palace. Because he was trying like this to stand up once more from the abyss of despair and walk forth…

“—All right, then if it’s decided, let’s go to my place now! Let’s stock up on food at the mall below while we’re at it. No wait, if we call Chiyu we’ll get a bonus item, won’t we…”

While laughing, Tak.u.mu lightly poked the stomach of Haruyuki, who was thinking deeply.

“Who you really want to call isn’t Chii-chan; you want the food prepared by her mom, right?”

“N, no, well, those two are indivisible…if you mention Chiyu, I think of refreshments, and if you mention refreshments, I think of Chiyu…”

“Uh oh, I’m telling Chii-chan what you just said now.”

“It, it was a joke! W-well, I’ll mail her, so you go get your mom’s permission.”

Attempting to steer him away from his improper remark, Haruyuki stood up from the bed.

At the moment when he was about to pull out the XSB cable still inserted into his Neuro Linker nonchalantly—

In the depths of his mind, a rather surrept.i.tious thought voice resounded like a raindrop falling onto a water surface.

“…Thank you, Haru. I’m truly glad…to be able to remain friends with you.”

With his back still turned to his dear friend, Haruyuki, who had strongly reflected upon those words, returned only a single, equally meager thought.

“Me too, Taku.”