“…W-W-Wha!?”
As Haruyuki fell down from his stool and then held onto the counter in a panic, the dwarf turned suspicious-looking eyes at him once again.
“…Leopard, although your name has circulated around plenty enough for you to act as a lure…in the first place, who is this newcomer here?”
Then, Pard-san gave the hint of a smile, though it was very faint, and whispered towards the dwarf’s ear.
“His name may be even more famous than mine. This kid is the «silver crow[26]» of the revived Nega Nebulas.”
*PYUU*.
What echoed out then was a low whistle that the Matchmaker let out from within his beard.
Haruyuki and Blood Leopard opened their respective Brain Burst option menus and registered each other as a tag team. With this, if either of them were challenged to a «duel», both of them would be automatically connected to the stage.
When Burst Linkers teamed up as a tag team, it was indicated at the top of the Matching List, and it was possible for solo linkers to challenge a tag team, but conversely, duel requests from a tag team to a solo linker naturally couldn’t be done.
The floor stirred up for an instant when the names «Blood Leopard» and «Silver Crow» appeared as a team on the bar’s large central monitor. Things like “Hey, the «leopard» of Promi[27] is fighting!» and “Why is she teaming up with the «crow» of NN[28]!?” were shouted here and there, and the numerals for the odds instantly began to move.
While moving from the counter to a seat at a gloomy table in the corner and waiting for the match to start, Haruyuki decided to ask some questions.
“…Umm, why are we fighting as a tag? Since the Rust Jigsaw in question is a solo, he wouldn’t intrude against two opponents, right…?”
“That’s not correct either.”
After touching a cocktail glass to her leopard mouth, Pard-san shook her head a little.
“Since the level difference is calculated not from the tag team’s average but the sum total of their levels instead, in the case of being challenged by a solo, his points will barely decrease if he loses, and if he wins he’ll get quite a lot. Since Rust Jigsaw seems to be tenacious about points, there is a high probability that he will think of us as delicious prey. Since I have had my name circulated around as a close-range type and Jigsaw seems to specialize in hunting close-range types, he won’t have a disadvantage when it comes to affinity either. Also…”
There, she glanced at Haruyuki with her golden pupils, and after closing her mouth once, she continued.
“…The rumor that you have become unable to fly has already spread around considerably. If Rust Jigsaw knows about it, the chances of him attacking increase even further.”
Feeling both pained and happy at Blood Leopard showing consideration just for an instant towards him about the fact that he had lost his wings, Haruyuki quickly continued the conversation.
“I see…if he can take me down instantly, he’ll just have to face you normally one-on-one after that.”
After nodding slightly, Haruyuki imitated Pard-san as she carried her glass to her mouth again, and also gulped down his own virtual cocktail. As he frowned at the strange taste, he thought.
If, for argument's sake, that Rust Jigsaw was connected to Dusk Taker and managed to acquire information on Silver Crow from him, then Haruyuki should naturally be cautious. Because Dusk was the perpetrator who had taken Silver Crow’s wings and made him become weak.
He checked that the start of the match still wouldn’t occur for a while, and then voiced his next question.
“Next…concerning the story about the duels earlier…Although he said that Rust Jigsaw does not come out on the Matching List, since he connects to this local network, he must always be somewhere within the Quadtower building in the real world, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then, can’t we find his real body somehow?”
Then, Pard-san lightly shrugged her shoulders within her leather suit.
“This building is a ga-cen from the first basement level to the third floor, and a Dive Cafe from the fourth to sixth floors. Since there are hundreds of visitors crowded together here at the same time right now, finding someone particular is difficult. But.”
“B-But?”
“There might be a way.”
“H-How!?”
“I’ll explain after. More importantly.”
Pard-san’s body that was sitting on the sofa next to him moved flexibly, and brought her mouth close to the ear of Haruyuki’s lizard avatar. With the lowest volume that would absolutely not reach any of the other Divers here, she whispered the following words.
“Unless the enemy uses it, you must not use the «Incarnate System».”
Though his body shrunk down with a jerk and he nodded at once, Haruyuki could not help but add something else.
“Ye…Yes. The Red King also told me that. But…But, why? Certainly, I think that it’s not fair if only one side uses that overly strong power. But, if it’s against an opponent that breaks the rules of Brain Burst…”
“That’s not it, it’s not for the opponent’s sake. It’s for your own.”
“Eh……?”
‘—Speaking of which, Niko also said the same thing’, as Haruyuki thought that.
Pard-san brought her body even closer, and whispered while looking into Haruyuki’s eyes at point-blank range.
“«Mind power» is a power born from a hole within the heart. When power is pulled out from there, you also draw closer little by little to that hole. If you one day lose that tug of war, you will be swallowed up by the darkness at the bottom of that hole.”
“D-Darkness…?”
“What produced that curse of the «Disaster Armor» you fought against was the reckless rampaging use of mind power by the first-generation Chrome Disaster. Because they knew that, the Kings have hidden the existence of the Incarnate System for many years.”
“……!!”
Haruyuki’s body stiffened once again.
What produced mind power was a desire born from an absolute lack of something—. The Red King Niko had also certainly said it. That acquiring it was impossible if you didn’t face the scars within your heart.
“…But.”
Haruyuki mumbled, as if trying to persuade not Blood Leopard, but himself.
“The person that first introduced mind power to me said this. That what produces mind power is the power of a «wish». That the reverse side of the heart's scars is «hope».”
The crimson leopard that heard that let out a quiet sigh, and responded with a whisper.
“…I also believe that is the truth as well. But, like Brain Burst itself, there are two sides to the Incarnate System. On the back side of «hope», there is «despair». If that power is pursued, something will definitely be lost as compensation. Most likely, your teacher isn’t an exception to that either.”
For an instant, the figure of Sky Raker sitting on her silver wheelchair appeared in Haruyuki’s mind. Her legs that had been lost, and would never return.
After rapidly blinking the eyes of his avatar, Haruyuki spoke the words that contained his half-formed thoughts.
“…Even so, I want to believe. In «mind power»…in the power of «wishes». No…in this Brain Burst that saved me.”
“…………”
Blood Leopard, unusually for her, kept silent for a long time while starting to say something.
Finally, her fierce eyes softened, and she whispered while placing her mouth next to Haruyuki’s ear.
“I see. It’s just as Rain said. You are…you just might, to this Accel World…”
But, he didn’t heard what she said beyond that.
One minute before the formal match time that was announced on the monitor came, the dry sound of thunder struck Haruyuki’s hearing. Next, the string of characters that announced the appearance of a challenger blazed red across his entire vision.
Chapter 7
Haru
yuki, as the duel avatar «Silver Crow», landed on top of a water storage tank that jutted out from the roof of a building.
The rows of stores that spread out in all directions on the streets below were colored with countless neon signs just like the scenery he had seen before he Dived. Numerous lights and laser illuminations shined from below up onto the clouds that hung low in the night sky. A blimp that was shining with a huge advertisement panel on it soared above their heads, and commercials in a strange language were being emitted from all the streets.
But this, of course, wasn’t the real world Akihabara. This was a 3D field that was reconstructed from the images captured by the Social Camera network. The attribute here was «Shopping District».
Haruyuki quickly bended over his body and first checked the HP gauges in the upper corners of his vision.
To the upper left was his own gauge. The smaller gauge of his tag partner, Blood Leopard, was visible right beneath it.
And the gauge that was shining in the upper right corner had, just as expected, the name «Rust Jigsaw» attached to it. Haruyuki’s breath caught beneath his silver helmet, and he glared at the small light blue cursor that had appeared in the center of his vision. The enemy should be in that direction. Fortunately or unfortunately, since the Shopping District stage prohibited entry into building just like the End of the Century stage, it seemed that they had been relocated some distance away from their original position.
Now then, first I have to link up with Pard-san—
Immediately as Haruyuki thought that, he heard a quiet voice from behind him and he turned around with a start.
“K. He’s taken the bait.”
Although he hadn’t heard any footsteps or sensed her presence, a tall and lean avatar now stood quietly behind him before he noticed it.
Her whole form bore a strong resemblance to the leopard-headed rider avatar she had used at the bar. But, she no longer had a leather suit, but instead non-glossy dark red armor that covered her entire body. Since her mask had a form which sharpened to a point like a bullet shell at the front and tapered into ear-like points at the back left and right tips, she resembled a savage beast of the feline family.
Within her long and slim silhouette, she had greatly swelled-out thighs that were extremely conspicuous. This truly nimble-looking avatar sat down next to Haruyuki, and the Level 6 Burst Linker belonging to «Prominence», «Blood Leopard», continued speaking in a whisper.
“You and I are close range types, while the enemy we’re facing is a mid-to-long range type. He will first try to split us up with long-range attacks and then take you down. Therefore, you mustn't irrationally try to counterattack, but instead give priority only to not separating from me.”
“…R-Roger.”
Haruyuki nodded, and then a half-second later.
*JIIIII!* As a jarring vibrating sound quickly approached from the direction the cursor was pointing towards, Haruyuki jumped aside reflexively.
A short time lag passed, and then the water storage tank that they had been standing until then was cut apart into two equal pieces. The water that flowed out with a splosh spread out across the rooftop. Trying not to step on it, Haruyuki hurried over next to Leopard, who had already jumped much further away than Haruyuki and had her back against a ventilation duct.
“That just now should have been that guy’s long range technique, «Wheel Saw».”
While remembering Rust Jigsaw’s abilities that they had heard about beforehand from Matchmaker, Haruyuki also responded back as fast as possible to Pard-san’s staggeringly fast-paced commentary.
“A technique that shoots out a jigsaw ring. But in this darkness, we can’t see the saw’s form at all.”
“We’ll have to make do with sound. Since it seems he can’t shoot them in rapid-fire, we’ll move closer after dodging the next attack.”
“K-K[29].”
Without the time for him to nod, another spinning ‘JIII!’ sound approached.
He looked, no, listened for the source of the sound, and then jumped forward diagonally to the right. The high-speed rotating super-thin ring passed by to his left, where his body has just been. The ventilation duct was cut apart and fell down behind him.
But Haruyuki didn’t look back at it and instead desperately ran after Blood Leopard who was running right in front of him.
The speed of the deep crimson avatar wasn’t just average, as expected. Seeming to leap and jump rather than run, she reached the end of the building in only a few steps—and then jumped into the air without any hesitation.
It was a simple 20 meters from the building they were on to the building that faced it on the other side of the wide road. Leopard easily flew across that empty space colored by neon lights.
…I also have to jump!?
—Don’t waver, jump!!
Putting that instantaneous thought into his right leg, Haruyuki also jumped across with all his strength. The air rang in his ears with a ‘BYUUU!’ sound, and the rooftop of the next building rapidly approached.
Haruyuki’s legs landed at a point ten centimeters away from the edge of the concrete. But there was no time for him to let out a sigh of relief. Because, on the rooftop of the next building over that was connected to theirs, the enemy’s figure could at last be seen. An upright silhouette which stood out with its rust color among the stage’s illuminating lights.
—Rust Jigsaw!
Haruyuki cried out sharply in his mind.
—Are you Noumi’s…Dusk Taker’s ally!? Do you use the same method to intercept the list!? Just what the hell is the truth of that secret!?
As if ridiculing Haruyuki’s impatience, Rust Jigsaw spread out his arms wide and then nimbly turned his body around. He then retreated to the next building at an unexpected high speed.
“…Think you can escape!?”
Haruyuki shouted that out in a low town and fiercely dashed forward. Even if he had no wings, for him to fall behind in speed against a long-range type was…
“Stop.”
If Haruyuki hadn’t slowed down his speed slightly in response to that sharp order, his head might had gone flying.
Suddenly, a violent impact hit his throat. A feeling of something thin eating into it. A ‘BIIIIN!’ vibration attacked his throat, and orange sparks scattered about just like blood. At the same time, his HP gauge grinded down along with his neck’s armor.
“Guh…”
While gritting his teeth, Haruyuki shook his body with all his strength and escaped from the thing that was eating into his neck. As he was in the midst of falling down backwards, he certainly saw it. In the air—was a super thin thread that was floating horizontally at the position where Rust Jigsaw had spread out his hands several seconds ago. A jigsaw.
As Haruyuki lay collapsed on the rooftop, Blood Leopard’s hand grasped his arm from behind. Immediately after she pulled him up with all her strength, a circular saw that came flying at them from the other building torn apart the spot where he has just been laying.
After dragging Haruyuki to the shade of a huge signboard, Leopard spoke as if amazed.
“Good thing you’re a metal color.”
“I…I’m sorry, I forgot…about that guy’s other technique that we were told about before…”
“«Still Saw». A technique that places a jigsaw on a fixed location in the air.”
Narrowing her golden eyes sharply from inside her tapered mask, Leopard continued.
“Close-range attacks are stopped by the fixed saw, and he continues his long-range attacks with the circular saw. Certainly, he is a natural enemy to close-range types.”
“…W-What should we do?”
Thinking for just an instant, Leopard spoke.
“Let me have your special technique gauge.”
Then, without giving time for Haruyuki to react, she suddenly opened up her mouth hidden beneath her mask and bit into Silver Crow’s shoulder with sharp fangs.
“Hii!?”
Crying out
, Haruyuki was further surprised by the phenomenon that happened next. Haruyuki’s special technique gauge, which had filled up to 30% due to the damage taken just now, started to vanish, and Blood Leopard’s gauge increased at the same pace.
Once she had taken his entire gauge, Leopard detached her mouth and shouted.
“«Shape Change»!!”
Putting her hands down on the concrete ground, her avatar shined crimson for an instant, and then—
She instantaneously changed from a «person crawling on all fours» to a «perfect four-legged beast». Her back extended out long and slender, her shoulders swelled strongly, and her hind legs folded into the shape of the letter ‘Z’, holding huge power.
“……Wh-Wha…”
As Haruyuki became shocked for the third time, Blood Leopard spoke to him in a voice whose effect intensity had increased.
“Get on.”
At any rate, it was certain that if he remained gaping like a fool here, he would only get bitten again, so Haruyuki climbed onto the huge leopard’s back while still in a daze. Bending her body low, Leopard next jumped to the side in order to avoid a «Wheel Saw» that came flying at them, and then jumped into the neon-sparkling night air in a straight line.
“……Kuu!”
Haruyuki unconsciously cried out at the back of his throat as they dashed out at a speed that couldn't simply be called ‘fast’.
With just a single jump, they certainly crossed 10 meters. Countless neon lights melted into a thin line and flowed by on both sides of his vision.
All at once, the silhouette of Rust Jigsaw, who was running on the roofs of several buildings ahead, stood out blackly. He was running while repeatedly carrying out the action of opening up his arms countless times without looking back. In the spaces he went through while doing that action, there should be a lethal saw thread suspended in the air there, but by moving at this fast speed Haruyuki couldn’t see them at all—
Just as Haruyuki was having misgivings, Leopard jumped far diagonally to the right.
She landed on her hands and feet on the back side of an advertising signboard that was illuminated by spotlights, and then jumped towards the left. She kicked off the neon-lit tower there and went towards the right once again. Although she avoided the spaces where the «Still Saws» probably were with great zigzagging jumps, she was definitely shortening the distance between themselves and the enemy who was running in a straight line.