The Carbide Wolf

  The girl with the short hair walking next to him, large gym bag slung across her chest—Chiyuri Kurashima—grinned as she opened her mouth to speak. “While we were waiting, Taku and I made a bet. About whether or not you’d notice us when your head’s so full of the duel. And the result is a clean pass without stopping! See, told you, you didn’t even see us!”

  “Uh! S-so then who won the bet?”

  “Obviously, Taku and I won, and you lost, Haru! Treat us to a soy milk banana au lait with tapioca on the way home!”

  “Hey—wh-what’s this, so one-sided…” Haruyuki was flustered.

  Chiyuri turned her eye beam on him lightly. “You totally ignored your two best friends when we were trying to come and cheer you on in this rain. That’s the least you could do!”

  He was forced into silence here, and Utai, having listened, grinning, to the exchange thus far, struck the killing blow.

  UI> NATURALLY, I NOTICED BOTH OF YOU.

  “I’m so sorry.” Haruyuki pressed his hands together and rubbed them up and down as he apologized when Takumu, with his usual impeccable timing, sent out a life raft.

  “Look, the bus is here, guys.”

  “Oh! It is! Run! Run!” Haruyuki started running toward the bus stop straight ahead without a moment’s delay.

  “Don’t you go running away!” Chiyuri shouted out behind him.

  They scrambled onto the EV bus, where, happily, the last row was completely empty. They sat with Haruyuki on the right, then Utai, Chiyuri, and Takumu, before letting out a collective sigh. Compared with the deeply uncomfortable June rain, the air-conditioned interior of the bus was basically heaven.

  “That reminds me, did you guys hear about this from Kuroyukihime? That I was going to Nakano today?” he asked Chiyuri, who was sitting on the other side of Utai.

  “No.” His childhood friend shook her head slightly. “I heard from Taku. And Taku…”

  “Maybe a guess from knowledge and experience. Judging from how down Haru was yesterday, I figured he might get back to his feet sometime today and go get revenge,” his other childhood friend said, pushing his glasses up with a fingertip.

  UI> YOU REALLY ARE QUITE THE COMBINATION, Utai typed with an admiring look on her face.

  “Haru’s just easy to figure out!” Chiyuri commented bluntly.

  While this exchange was going on, the bus soon passed the Koenji Rikkyo intersection—where Haruyuki dueled Ash Roller every other day—and approached the border with Nakano Ward. Two more traffic lights until the area change.

  Chiyuri composed her poker face and quietly checked with Haruyuki. “What do you want to do? Should we find somewhere to sit near Nakano Station? Or…”

  “It’s raining and all. Inside the bus like this is good. We’ll start as soon as we get into Nakano.”

  His friends all nodded at this from Haruyuki. Together, they leaned back in their seats and got ready. The bus, racing along Oume Highway slick with rain, passed the first light, and when it was approaching the second, Haruyuki took a deep breath. He had come this far; no point in kicking and screaming now. All that was left was to do everything he could.

  After waiting a second, Haruyuki whisper-shouted the command with all the fight he had in him: “Burst Link!”

  14

  The categories of stages randomly generated by the Brain Burst program had no links to the time or season or weather in the real world. Thus, when Haruyuki dived into the Accelerated World as his duel avatar Silver Crow, he was a little surprised when he saw that the Oume Highway on this side was also slick with pounding rain.

  The bus had, of course, disappeared, so he landed on the road surface from the height of the seat, sending droplets of water scattering.

  He quickly glanced at the sky. Although the thick gray clouds blanketing it as far as he could see were the same as in the Thunder stage, the swirling clouds were flowing from west to east at a fairly high speed, while droplets of water fell without stop. This was a Storm stage.

  Its characteristics were the fact that the strength of the rain changed periodically, the fact that gale-force winds sometimes blew through, and the fact that terrain objects would, rarely, be destroyed by those winds. Thin buildings would snap in half, so it was essential to keep an eye on the surroundings.

  Having finished confirming the specifics and characteristics of the stage in the span of two breaths, Haruyuki then stared at the enemy gauge in the upper right of his field of view. The avatar name inscribed there was, of course, Wolfram Cerberus. Haruyuki had accelerated on the bus, and no sooner had he found the name at the top of the matching list in ascending order, than he had challenged him to a duel without a moment’s hesitation.

  What was a little unexpected was that Cerberus was still at level one again today. The day before, he had beaten the level-four Tourmaline Shell, the level-five Frost Horn, and the similarly level-five Silver Crow. And those were only the ones Haruyuki knew about. Considering the compensation for the level difference, he had probably earned a relatively large number of points. Unlike the Haruyuki of old, he should have been able to go up to level two with plenty of a margin left over.

  “But that doesn’t matter now,” Haruyuki murmured, and lastly looked at the guide cursor. The triangle was indeed indicating the northeast, the direction of Nakano Station. From the fact that there were no members of the Gallery around him, he knew there was a fair bit of distance between them. The moment his friends riding the bus with him had dived into this stage, after their automatic registration had been activated, they would have been sent flying to the central point between Crow and Cerberus along with the other members of the Gallery.

  He shook his helmet, knocking off the drops of water sticking to it, and then once again spoke out loud: “All right…Here we go!”

  In the pounding rain, he began to run toward Nakano Station. Quickly reaching top speed, Silver Crow left a trail of water droplets swirling into a mist.

  The day before, he had tried to use the terrain for a surprise attack and had instead had the first attack snatched away from him, so today Haruyuki decided to attempt to make contact head-on, no tricks. But even so, the instant he spotted the silhouette standing boldly in the center of the street, Nakano Station at his back, he couldn’t help but feel a little nervous.

  No, I should actually be ready. I should go at him with that mindset. Because I was totally crushed by him yesterday. Today, I’m the challenger.

  As he told himself this, Haruyuki slowed to a stop in the center of Nakano Street, about fifteen meters in front of Cerberus. Unlike the day before, they were on the southern side of the station, and there were basically no tall buildings here. Inevitably, the members of the Gallery, about thirty occupying the roofs of the buildings alongside the road, were also much closer than they had been the previous day.

  Among the Gallery, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the massive Cyan Pile, the slender Lime Bell, and the even smaller Ardor Maiden. Haruyuki concentrated his strength in the pit of his stomach and began speaking to his duel opponent, standing beyond him in the pouring rain.

  “I’m sorry, today on the heels of yesterday. I’d like to have a revenge match. I don’t like to let a loss sit.” For Haruyuki, these were challenging words, and the Gallery reeled slightly.

  “Not at all.” Silencing this was the response of Cerberus’s ever cool and clear voice. “I’m glad. There are few people who are kind enough to duel with me again so soon after fighting me.”

  These too could have been fairly challenging words, depending on how you took them. The Gallery stirred once more, and the temperature of the battlefield rose the slightest bit.

  “Okay then. If I lose today, I’ll declare here and now that I’ll come again tomorrow for revenge…Although I don’t think it’ll come to that,” Haruyuki replied, and Cerberus giggled. Or that’s what it felt like, at any rate.

  “You really are good, Crow. Just as I’d heard—no, more than that. I would like
to fight you any number of times.”

  “Is that maybe a declaration that you’ll turn the tables no matter how many times I come?”

  “No. It means that if I lose, I will quickly ask for a rematch. Although I don’t think it will come to that.”

  On the surface, this was a cool and polite exchange, but Haruyuki was keenly aware of the fact that with each riposte, the air in the field grew tenser. The feeling of that tension bursting and crackling spread out, a much different sensation from the vibration of the raindrops hitting his body.

  Perhaps feeling the same way, Cerberus glanced down at the gray armor covering his body before lifting his head again. “Well then, shall we get started?” He raised up both arms and snapped them out to the sides. “Thank you for this opportunity!”

  The previous day, Haruyuki had mumbled a response to the impressive greeting, but now, he raised his voice to the same level. “I also appreciate it! Now…here we go!!”

  He sank down, stepping out onto the wet asphalt with his right foot. The sole of his lead foot had no sooner bitten firmly into the road surface than he was dashing forward ferociously.

  At the same time, Cerberus charged straight forward. Silver and gray, the two metallic armors pulverized the raindrops on the road the instant they touched them, transforming the water into a minute spray. Drawing out white trajectories, the two metal colors instantly crossed the fifteen meters between them.

  “Haah!” Cerberus launched a right long hook, the entirety of his kinetic energy riding on it.

  “Sheh!” Haruyuki shot forth the exact same punch.

  At that moment, neither of their special-attack gauges had been charged even a pixel. Thus, Cerberus was unable to use his ability, Physical Immunity, and Haruyuki couldn’t do his Aerial Combo, which required the thrust of his wings.

  Their fists closed in on the other’s helmet, sending droplets of rain scattering. However, Cerberus showed no sign of trying to get out of the way. He had probably determined that even before his ability was activated, evasion didn’t matter, given the fact that the difference in their armor hardness was a draw.

  And that was correct. If both of their punches hit their targets, then Haruyuki would take nearly double the damage. However, he wasn’t aiming for a direct attack with his fists.

  His right fist, on the trajectory of a right hook, suddenly opened up wide. He collected as much rain as he could in his palm and five fingers, and with a snap of his wrist hit Cerberus’s face with that moisture.

  The water splashed up against the dark gray goggles. Cerberus reflexively turned his face away, and the trajectory of his punch deviated very slightly.

  “Nngh…!” Gritting his teeth, Haruyuki intently twisted his head to the left. The super-hard iron fist grazed the left cheek of his helmet, sending white sparks scattering everywhere. His health gauge decreased by a few dots, but he ignored that. He used the vector to rotate his body to the left and launched a low kick with his right leg.

  Skreenk! A sharp metallic noise rang out, and he saw a damage effect, a beam of light jetting out from Cerberus’s left knee joint. Cerberus’s health gauge decreased 5 percent. A perfect first attack.

  I got it today! Haruyuki shouted out in his heart. He still hadn’t gained any distance, but while Cerberus reeled, Haruyuki now used his water attack with a left palm strike. After blocking his opponent’s vision, he connected this with a left-middle kick. He got a clean hit on the thin flank of the armor and took another 7 percent off Cerberus’s gauge.

  Here, Cerberus crouched down low. He leapt far back in a big jump—pushing off with both feet at the same time—as he had the previous day. Getting out of the close-range situation for a moment rather than aiming to pointlessly resist it—he definitely had good duel sense.

  Haruyuki also had the option to close the distance between them with a dash. However, with just the smoke screen of a normal strike combo, it was impossible to cut away all at once the more than 90 percent remaining in his opponent’s gauge. And his opponent had Physical Immunity, which changed even his weakest parts into absolutely impenetrable armor. The real contest would start when he brought that out.

  Thus, rather than chasing Cerberus, Haruyuki also stepped back. He opened up a dozen or so meters between them, and a quiet commotion rose up from the rooftops of the buildings on either side.

  Not seeming to pay any mind to the voices of the Gallery, Cerberus slowly rose up from his landing position and, without taking his eyes off Haruyuki, he said, “I had absolutely no idea this rain could be used like that.”

  “It’s actually hard to collect the rain in your hand, though, instead of having it bounce off,” Haruyuki responded.

  Cerberus opened his right hand and sliced it through the air, palm up. But the raindrops all scattered, and none of the water pooled in his hand like the water Crow had thrown. In truth, Haruyuki had applied a secret technique Kuroyukihime had taught him.

  “I see. It doesn’t look like I’ll be able to imitate it so easily.”

  “It’d be a problem for me if you could. I had to seriously train before I could do it.”

  Hearing this, Cerberus lowered the hand he had offered up to the sky and clenched it into a fist. Haruyuki thought he might have been a little daunted, but… “I’m happy to hear that. So there are still things in this world to study and train in!”

  Hearing this clear voice, Haruyuki felt that, while Cerberus was the hardest Burst Linker he’d ever fought, he might have also been the most refreshing. It was almost like there wasn’t a shred of negative emotion beneath that armor.

  But that, unfortunately, was not possible. Great power was born from equally deep wounds. Just as Manganese Blade had recounted the previous day, that was the basic principle of the Accelerated World. Behind Cerberus’s strength were the mental scars he was carrying inside. Even if he himself was not aware of those scars.

  The instant he had this thought, the words “Mental-Scar Shell theory” throbbed painfully in the back of Haruyuki’s mind. But he quickly shook them out of his head. He couldn’t be thinking about anything but the duel right now. He had to muster all his strength and face this powerful enemy. For that reason alone, Haruyuki was standing in this place now.

  As if in sympathetic vibration with Haruyuki’s thoughts, Cerberus also changed his attitude slightly. After his right hand, he clenched his left and stood taller, the armor of his body clanking. From beneath the somehow wolflike helmet came a somewhat more severe voice. “Well then…this is a bit soon, but I’ll take my leave to begin!” He slowly raised his fists and turned his body forward. It was the form to activate his ability.

  “Yeah. Come at me, Cerberus!” Haruyuki shouted, and crossed his own clenched fists in front of his chest.

  Cerberus slammed his right and left hands together, and on cue, the top and bottom of the helmet visor clamped down on the sparks generated. When his goggles were nearly completely hidden, the area that had been his face up to that point looked almost like fangs. As a phenomenon, it was simple, but the system changes behind it were nothing to laugh at. He was now under the protection of Physical Immunity, which would repel punches and kicks, of course, but also probably even attacks with close-range weapons like swords and hammers. Haruyuki hadn’t noticed it the day before, but when he focused on Cerberus’s special-attack gauge, it was decreasing slightly, and he saw that the ability was not the nonstandard defensive power from the Incarnate system.

  At the same time as Wolfram Cerberus activated his ability, Silver Crow snapped the arms crossed in front of his chest back to his sides. The metallic fins folded up on his back deployed with a slight rasping sound. It was the movement to ready his flight ability, but his special-attack gauge did not decrease yet. He used that up only when he was actually flying, but the mileage was a bit worse than Cerberus’s Physical Immunity, so if they both fought with their abilities at full power, the consumption rate would be basically synchronized.

  The timer that had s
tarted at 1,800 still had more than 1,000 remaining, but this appeared to be the climax of the duel, and the dozens of spectators fell silent. If calculated into the system, the heat contained in their gazes would have locally evaporated even the ceaselessly pounding rain.

  Haruyuki didn’t take his eyes off Cerberus for even a second, but even still, he was keenly aware of the feelings of his three friends in the eyes focused on him. He even felt the encouragement of the two who were not there arriving deep in his heart.

  Taku, Chiyu, Shinomiya…and Master Fuko and Kuroyukihime, please watch. I’m going to give it everything I have right here, right now!

  “Aaaaah!!” Roaring shortly, Haruyuki moved.

  Stepping forward with his right leg: a dash riding on the thrust of his wings, almost twice as fast as his previous charge. The raindrops in the air scattered from the wind pressure alone, and he closed ten meters in the blink of an eye. A ramming attack—or a feint of one; he slid to the right immediately in front of Cerberus and tried to spin around behind him.

  But the young prodigy also responded immediately to this Aerial Combo move. Even though he hadn’t been able to follow Haruyuki’s movements in three dimensions for a while after the start of the duel the day before, today he quickly spun on the axis of his left foot and continued to confront Haruyuki directly. Additionally, he even used the centrifugal force from this to launch a right middle kick.

  This development was something Haruyuki had anticipated. In the back of his mind, the voice of Kuroyukihime, from his Spartan-style training over lunch, came back to life.

  “Know that the techniques you showed him in the duel yesterday won’t work on Cerberus today!

  “But it’s pointless to keep them locked up forever! With planning and application, all techniques are endlessly changeable—no, evolving!”

  Right, Kuroyukihime!