Both shuttles were greatly damaged not all that different from the No.1 shuttle. While Haruyuki and the others watched them with dumbfounded expressions, the two shakily approaching shuttles awkwardly stopped right next to their shuttle. Immediately after, both shuttles’ linear wheels let out a pitiful sound and were blown away.
“Ah, aaaah. So this is as far as you go. Mega-Thanks for all your hard work.”
Ash Roller struck the side of his shuttle gratefully, and Pard-san also softly patted her steering wheel and murmured.
“GJ.”
And then, the two of them raised their heads together and looked at the five members of Nega Nebulas. While tilting her head, Kuroyukihime spoke as their representative.
“…A-Although I first should congratulate you guys on your hard work…Just why did you chase after us even after your other members fell? It’s definitely impossible to continue the race anymore.”
“Ah, well, err, you know, I discussed it a little bit with this panther-head Nee-san here.”
Scratching the back of his skull-face helmet, Ash Roller spoke.
“Like, everything would be way too for nothing if all the teams retired like this, and…”
“You explanation is too roundabout. And I’m not a panther, I’m a leopard.”
Pard-san cut into with a cold tone and took over the rest.
“It’s impossible for all the shuttles to run in their current condition. But, if our three teams worked together, there’s a slight chance we can reach the goal.”
“Wha…What do you mean, Leopard?”
When Sky Raker leaned out from her seat and asked that, Pard-san gazed at her directly and spoke.
“If we take one step out of these shuttles, it will turn into a vertical cliff for us from there. But, my «Beast Mode» and Bike Guy’s bike have the power to run along the tower wall.”
“B-Bike Guy…”
Ignoring Ash Roller as he muttered that in a complicated tone, Pard-san’s unfaltering explanation continued.
“However, both of our abilities consume our special technique gauges. Therefore, Bike and me will carry Crow and Raker up as far as we can. Then, Crow will carry Raker on his back and fly up as far as he can. Finally, Raker will fly up as far as the energy remaining in her «Gale Thruster» can take her. After that, whether she can reach the goal…”
—only God knows.
Without saying that last part, Pard-san spread out her hands.
Upon hearing this unexpected proposal, Haruyuki and the others sank into shocked silence. The one that broke the silence first was Kuroyukihime.
“…I see, how interesting. There is value in trying. But…naturally, you two aren’t offering your help for free, right?”
“Well, of cooooooooooooourse! The first place prize will be cut up in three equal pieces! If the cat old lady Giga Sucks though…”
“That’s too vulgar, Ash.”
As Ash Roller became silent with a jerk at Raker’s words, Pard-san tilted her head slightly.
“Well?”
“Of course, we’ll join in on this plan.”
In response to Kuroyukihime’s immediate answer, the leopard-headed avatar responded with her usual “K” and gave a faint smile.
The lightweight Sky Raker rode on the back of Blood Leopard after she transformed into a graceful quadruped through the «Shape Change» command.
And Haruyuki sat on the back of the chopper-type American bike summoned by Ash Roller.
“Then, I wish you good luck. We’ll cheer for you guys from here.”
After Kuroyukihime’s words, Takumu and Chiyuri nodded as well.
“We’re counting on you all. Tie up this event with a happy ending!”
“Good luck, Crow, Raker-nee-san! And also Leopard-san and the bike person!”
After visibly slumping his head at Chiyuri’s words, Ash Roller then shouted out as usual.
“Then let’s goooooo! Hold me tight, you crow bastard! Aaah, I wanted to say that to master——!”
Those slightly pitiful words were overlapped with the roar of the revving engine. After the back wheel spun grandly, the bike dashed forward as if kicking off the vertical wall.
Next, Pard-san also started running up while hardly making a sound with Raker on her back. Her savage feline-like legs stuck precisely to the tower surface, and her appearance as she ran was like that of a cat galloping across a tree trunk.
Suddenly, unexpected loud noises poured down from above their heads as they started moving up the tower. Those were cheers of support. Various avatars poured down their voices all at once from the last remaining floating spectator stand.
“All right, show us the Burst Linker soul—!”
“Don’t lose to that kind of interfering bastard——!”
“Do your best~, Leopard-sama~~!”
“Karasu, you really fought well earlier——!”
As some of that cheering was aimed at Silver Crow, Haruyuki unconsciously looked up at the sky.
Those guys must have seen Haruyuki summon the forbidden Enhanced Armament, the «Armor of Catastrophe». Moreover, he had even considered massacring those hundreds of gallery viewers earlier due to that power. But, he didn’t hear any voices condemning him.
They might have simply not noticed the truth of these events yet. But, even so, those cheers thrown at him warmly soaked into Haruyuki’s chest.
It seemed as if the ascent of the spectator stand was set up so that it was synchronized with the shuttle in the lead, as the gallery viewers didn’t follow after them. The giant stand, as well as the forms of Kuroyukihime, Takumu and Chiyuri waving their hands beneath it grew distant in the blink of an eye, and finally melted away into the silver shining surface plates of the elevator, disappearing from view.
For a while, only the sound of the heavy engine and the soft pitter-patter of footsteps could be heard in space more than 3,000 km above the ground. As if the great destruction not long ago were a lie, the silver-colored Hermes Cord extended upwards beautifully and continued up to the Milky Way through which countless stars flowed.
No one tried to speak, and there was no reason to. All four of them were aiming for the summit of the tower with each of their own deep emotions, and one shared thought in their chest. Haruyuki believed that, and simply yielded himself to the shaking motions of the bike.
Rust Jigsaw had said the word «revolution» just before he left. In other words, that meant that the large scale subversive activity this time was done under the clear intent of the «Acceleration Research Society». But, no matter what kind of changed visited Accel World after this, it would never change. The important things would definitely remain. Because right now, members from three different opposing legions were working together and aiming for a single goal.
—As long as I don’t forget this truth, I won’t lose to the temptation of the «armor» again.
When Haruyuki muttered that, no voice responded in return this time.
They kept running up the tower like that for some time.
Eventually, a line of small dots of light that weren’t stars appeared up ahead of them. Surrounding the Hermes Cord as its form faded away into jet-black space above, the blue lights formed a beautiful ring.
“…It looks like that’s the goal, the top station.”
Ash Roller muttered that and slowed down the bike’s speed.
“I was able to go quite far thanks to the gravity being weak here, but this far is my limit. How about you, Leopard-nee-san?”
“Me too.”
The two of them lightly nodded at each other, and looked at the other people riding with them respectively over their shoulders.
“The rest is up to you, Crow……Also, regardless of the method you used, you showed extreme guts in your battle against that rust bastard. A severe situation may come after this, but don’t lose heart.”
After Ash Roller said that in a seemingly embarrassed tone, Haruyuki deeply nodded, and somehow managed to say one s
entence.
“Th…Thank you very much.”
“Yeah. —And don’t forget my share, you crow bastard!”
On their right, Blood Leopard spoke some very short words to Raker.
“Raker. I have only one thing to say……Welcome back, «ICBM».”
Raker gently patted her back and gave a similar short response.
“……I’m back, «Bloody Kitty».”
When their respective greetings were over, Haruyuki unfolded the wings on his back.
Due to Jigsaw’s incarnate attacks, his special technique gauge was also completely filled. He lightly vibrated his fins, and rose up without a sound from the bike’s tandem seat.
He held out his right hand, and firmly grasped Raker’s own held out left hand. With just that, her very lightweight avatar separated from Leopard’s back and nestled up to Haruyuki.
It seemed that the bike’s and Leopard’s special technique gauges had finally run out at this point. Both quickly slowed down. Haruyuki turned around to fly backwards and saw the two of them off.
“See ya! Make sure to properly escort master, Crow!”
“CU.”[53]
Their tires and legs halted, and for a moment remained still on the tower surface—and then they fell off it.
Pulled by the gravity of the big blue Earth below, Ash Roller and Blood Leopard slowly started falling downwards. If this were the real world, there would be no atmosphere at an orbit of this height, but it seemed that atmospheric friction damage was set up in Accel World, and so their two avatars were wrapped in orange light.
Their silhouettes rapidly grew distant while pulling bright tails behind them like shooting stars, and then finally disappeared in a burst of strong light.
“…Thank you.”
Bowing his head deeply towards the two of them as they returned to reality, Haruyuki then turned around to face the summit of the Hermes Cord once again.
There was still quite a lot of distance until the top station illuminated by the blue ring. There was a delicate line between whether they could reach it or not even with their flight abilities combined. However, Haruyuki thought it was no longer important whether they could reach the goal or not. Three teams had pulled together and did their best. That was the most important thing in this race.
“…Let’s go. Master, climb onto my back…”
When Haruyuki said that to the sky-blue avatar holding his hands, Fuuko smiled slightly.
“Since we’re like this anyway, please carry me from the front. The two of us are finally alone together, after all.”
“Eh…Ye…Yes.”
Nodding nervously, Haruyuki placed his arms under her back with her booster attached and her slender legs which cut off at the knees. Raker also wrapped her hands around Haruyuki’s neck.
“Th…Then, let’s go!”
Declaring that out loud to hide his embarrassment, Haruyuki vibrated the wings on his back.
In order to reduce the consumption of his special technique gauge, Haruyuki limited his thrust to minimum power. There weren’t any opponents to fight anymore anyway. Their two avatars left a trail of pale silver light behind them as they started ascending up quietly.
The two of them flew through the silent world, only watched over by the countless stars above. Perhaps it was his imagination, but Haruyuki felt as if the light of the sun shining from the upper right increased in softness as well. Only a small shadow ran parallel to them along the surface of the smoothly curving Hermes Cord.
Neither of them tried to speak for a while.
But eventually, Fuuko, with her forehead leaning against the right side of Haruyuki’s chest, whispered while closing her dark red eye lenses halfway.
“……I’ve dreamt of…this view for a long time…but at the same time, I also feared it somewhere in my heart…”
Despite the atmosphere being infinitely thin, a faint wind still blew through, and swayed her bluish silver hair. Brushing aside her forelocks gently with her right hand’s fingers, Fuuko continued speaking.
“Going «beyond the sky» was an unfulfilled dream for me. In order to fulfill that dream, I sacrificed everything. My ability to fight…my responsibilities as the sub-head of Nega Nebulas…and my friendship with Sacchan. I threw them all away and shouldered huge crimes, and yet even then my hand did not reach the sky…When I realized that…I might have been just a little relieved. ‘With this, I’m released from the deep-seated obsession that stirred me. Now, I should just stay on the top of that tower by myself, forgotten by everyone, and look at Accel World’s ever-changing view from there’…is what I thought…”
Raker gave a faint smile on her lips and closed her eyes. Her expression was incredibly calm, but Haruyuki saw very small grains of light—tears shining like diamonds appear at the corner of her eyes.
“……My dream was too heavy for my shoulders. But, even after dropping it off my shoulders when I could no longer bear it, I couldn’t abandon it. When that dream, which I continued cherishing in my hands as if protecting embers on the verge of being extinguished…was inherited by the small Karasu-san that suddenly appeared in my yard on a certain day…I was just so happy…Now, I’ll say the thanks that I haven’t been able to say all this time. Thank you, Crow…no, Haruyuki-san.”
After stroking Haruyuki’s cheeks with her left hand as he widened his eyes—Fuuko suddenly spoke in a clear tone.
“You carried me all the way here, but—I do not have the right to visit this race’s goal, the true place beyond the sky. Let’s switch roles. I’ll carry you as far as I can fly. From there, please aim for the goal. That is my duty as one who gave up on that dream, and your right as one who continued aiming for the sky far more strongly and earnestly than I did…Now, Karasu-san. Let me down here.”
In response to her instructions—
Haruyuki gently, but decisively shook his head.
“No. That’s wrong, Raker-san.”
“Eh……?”
“You didn’t give up on your dream. The sky you aimed for is far, far higher than what I can reach. I’ll prove it to you now. I…came all the way here, to the summit of the Hermes Cord, in order to transmit that to you.”
Cutting off his words there, Haruyuki suddenly vibrated his wings at full power.
His metal fins were wrapped in a dazzling white light. A high-pitched resonance sound occurred, and a strong propulsive force wrapped around the two of them. The stars on either side flowed past them in long lines. However—
His full power rush only continued for a few seconds.
The vibrating sounds of his wings quickly faded and their luminescence also disappeared. The gauge wasn’t exhausted. Although his fins were trembling violently, they didn’t produce any thrust. When even the force of their inertia eventually vanished and they stopped ascending, Haruyuki spoke while smiling at Fuuko in his arms.
“My wings can’t fly any further than here. The atmosphere is too thin. My flight ability produces thrust by striking the air with the vibrations of my fins. That’s why, when I’m this high up, no matter how much I vibrate my wings, I can’t advance forward. This really is a game that fusses over the details of abilities too much…”
Fuuko widened her eyes, and listened to him in silence. Gazing at her beautiful dark red eyes, Haruyuki finally turned the words that had continued to heat up inside his chest for a long, long time into proper sounds.
“But…But, your wings, «Gale Thruster» is a jet-type propulsion device. Even in this world without air, you…only you can fly. Then, why are your wings in the form of a booster…? It’s because, from the beginning, you never looked the sky, but only beyond it. You wished for a place much, much higher than the clouds or stratosphere…in other words, this world of stars. —That avatar of yours was…”
After closing his mouth once here and sucking in a deep breath underneath his helmet, Haruyuki spoke in a trembling but clear voice.
“It was created for the sake of flying in this world.
Sky Raker[54], you are originally a space battle-type duel avatar.”
Those words spread through the thin atmosphere, dissolved away, and disappeared.
Fuuko widened her glittering dark red eyes greatly. But she didn’t say anything and just, just continued staring back at Haruyuki.
Eventually, she quietly turned away her face and looked down at her feet. Haruyuki also turned his eyes to look in the same direction.
As if supporting the steel tower towering up towards infinity—the Hermes Cord, a huge blue planet spread out beneath them.
It was the Earth. Illuminated by the sunlight from the right, it was dyed in beautiful gradations of color that sank from blue through indigo to black. With those colors in the background, pure white clouds drew complex patterns across it, and continents carved complex edged along the circumference.
Fuuko held out her right hand, and pointed it towards the right hemisphere which curved loosely, at the boundary line where it met with jet-black space.
When Haruyuki focused his eyes, he saw a thin blue veil there that wrapped around the surface as if protecting it from the coldness of space. Compared to the scale of the planet and the universe, its brightness was too dim.
“……That line of ephemeral sky blue is……”
Fuuko’s whisper brushed against Haruyuki’s mind as if it were a thought itself.
“What I aimed for, dreamt of, sometimes even hated…and everything of the sky that I gave up on……”
This time, large tears overflowed and rolled down from her sunset-colored eyes, and softly drifted away into space. Eventually, those drops of water would be pulled down by the minimum gravity here and return to the planet’s blue ocean.
Fuuko looked at Haruyuki once again, held out her left hand as well, and then wrapped both her arms around Silver Crow’s neck and tightly, tightly held him. In his ear, she spoke some words as if carving them into him.
“Thank you, Karasu-san. I’m truly glad that I was able to come here…and was able to see this view. I finally realized it now. What kept these legs from returning…wasn’t my obsession, but fear. I was afraid of knowing the hugeness of the sky…and of my dream ending. But, I don’t need that anymore. After all…”