Volume 4 - CH 10(4/5)
That prayer, however, was only a big chance to Noumi.
“As if I’d let you!!”
Shouting sharply, Dusk Taker flapped his black wings violently and rushed straight at him.
Haruyuki disregarded the ominous flying sound as he mustered all his force of will and completed the image.
A clear sky-blue color spread out within his chest. That Over-Ray was released as phantom wings from his back, flowed into the booster attached there, and changed into the fuel known as ‘will’.
*SUGA!*?An intense shock was produced, and five claws gouged deeply into Haruyuki’s chest, intersecting with the cuts from earlier.
“Guh..”
Even as a great mass of sparks scattered out along with his groan, Haruyuki suddenly opened his eyes wide and grasped the tentacle attached to Dusk Taker’s left arm as he tried to fly away.
The wings that materialized ?flight ability?, when compared to his booster, certainly had a higher degree of endless freedom and flexibility. However, it still had a weak point. In compensation for its high mobility power, it lacked stability.
As his tentacle was pulled back by Haruyuki, Noumi lost his balance and fell halfway into a tailspin. Haruyuki used that momentum as well, swung with all his strength and instantly cut off the tentacle with his light sword. As the centrifugal force piled onto his propulsive power, Dusk Taker was blown away horizontally with violent force.
“Chiii!”
Leaking out an angry voice, he violently moved his wings in order to regain balance. But his control didn’t return so easily.
After facing his body towards him and sucking in a big breath—
Haruyuki shouted.
“Fl..yyyyyyy!!”
The Gale Thruster responded with an intense combustion noise.
Within the night’s darkness, Haruyuki became a blue shooting star and rushed upwards. The lights on the ground, the stars in the sky, they all dissolved radially, until only the figure of Dusk Taker was caught distinctly within his field of vision.
He drew aside his right hand. He arranged his fingertips.
Voicing the technique name was no longer necessary. The pure intention to pierce dwelled in his hand as light, trembling violently.
“O..oooooh——!!”
Sending out a yell, Haruyuki aimed the core of the radiated light and released the silver radiance.
“CHE..EEAAAH——!!”
Noumi, who had restored his posture just before that, met the attack with his right hand’s claws along with a shout.
A shrill resonance sound and exploding shock wave roared through the world.
The tip of the light sword was held back from five directions by the claws of nothingness and stopped. From the point of contact, intense heat and vibrations were emitted, and as they fought each other in the mutual stance of extending their right arms, their two masks were scorched.
“Uu, oh, oh!!”
Haruyuki gushed out all of the energy could from the booster, and tried to break through Noumi’s defense. The driving sound on his back increased endlessly. The flames that extended out so far from his back dyed the sky blue.
—A little more. It will reach if I push back a little bit more. My sword will reach this ultimate enemy. A little further..just a little bit further..!!
Even as he was within that accelerated sensation, he saw the energy gauge in the upper left corner of his vision rapidly decrease.
If this gauge was depleted, Noumi wouldn’t give Haruyuki the time to charge his mind power again, and would immediately cut him apart with his claws.
Before that could happen—pierce him!
“O..ooh..!!”
His overheated consciousness burned off his vision in white. However, Haruyuki mustered still more of his imagination and tried to pierce through the barrier before him.
The silver light firmly pushed into the nothingness. His gauge was mercilessly consumed.
Perhaps because he was concentrating too densely on high attack power, the field itself made a ripple-like effect and swayed. His sword of light pushed through the center of that little by little, little by little.
It reached. The point of his sword finally touched the palm of Noumi himself—
Immediately before that.
The last pixel that lit up his energy gauge vanished.
The combustion noise of the booster trembled, and the jet flames flickered intermittently.
Dusk Taker gave an insane smile beneath his visor.
At that moment—
‘....Come now, Karasu[8]-san. Just a little more.’
He heard someone’s voice, and a white hand was placed on Haruyuki’s right arm.
‘....Come on, keep at it. It’s just a bit further.’
A different voice resounded, and someone pushed Haruyuki’s shoulder.
“U..a..aaaaa——!!”
Gathering all the power he had left into a single point in his right hand, Haruyuki roared. Although it was only for an instant, huge flames gushed out from the booster whose gauge should have been depleted.
It pushed him up with the last of its propulsive power, and then his light sword finally broke through the barrier of nothingness. The five claws scattered into purple light and evaporated.
“What..”
As if to erase Noumi’s gasp just then.
*SHUKIIIIIIIN!!*
A loud sound resounded, and the sword of light that had had extended far tore apart Dusk Taker’s right arm in half, and shattered it into countless fragments.
“..Raaah!!”
Haruyuki’s consciousness was so exhausted that it was a wonder that he could still move. Even so, before falling down from that high altitude, his body moved half-automatically and he pierced using his entire strength the enemy’s chest with a left hand thrust.
The light of his mind power was so weak that it almost couldn’t be seen, but his arm still pierced the darkness-colored avatar along with a heavy feedback, and came out slightly from Dusk Taker’s back.
“Guh..guuuh..!”
Noumi groaned as red-purple sparks scattered out from him, and he threw his head back.
—Just one more blow!!
If he received another heavy attack, Dusk Taker’s HP gauge would probably be depleted.
However, at that moment, Haruyuki would also certainly die as well.
That was because he had foolishly recharged his Gale Thruster again, and so he had no more power left to control his descent. His remaining HP was negligible, so if he crashed into the ground from this high altitude, the remainder would vanish all too quickly.
—But, still, that’s fine.
—If it becomes a draw between us and all the points get awarded to Cyan Pike. If I let Takumu take over my dream. My battle is pointless.
Spurring on his consciousness that would likely blow out any moment now, Haruyuki raised his right hand high to strike.
The final attack against the black visor of the enemy that had similarly almost fainted now—
The moment he tried to strike,
He heard a voice.
“Citron Call!!”
The voice that he had heard the most in the world, probably even longer than that of his parents. The voice that he would laugh with, play with, and sometimes fight with, but then quickly reconcile—
As if attracted by it, Haruyuki looked at the ground.
A pillar of beautiful emerald light rose up from the bright green colored avatar standing quietly in the schoolyard, and enveloped Dusk Taker.
The sound of countless bells spread through the night sky.
As if it were an angel’s blessing, it healed the twilight-colored avatar. His cracked and scorched armor regained its gloss. His lost arms regenerated.
A momentary but far too deep despair enveloped Haruyuki.
Behind the black spherical visor, red-purple eyes blinked, and then became strongly relit.
“..Ku, kuha, hahaha.”
A high-pitched laugh.
“Hahaha! Ahahahahahaha!!”
At some point extending out his regenerated arms extremely high, Dusk Taker shouted.
“Look, isn’t this truly pure loyalty!? How is it..This, is power! This is how one rules others!! Friendship!? Bonds!? As if I need things like that!! Controlling by robbing!! That is the only absolute power!! Hahaha..Hahahahahahahahaha!!”
That loud and twisted laughter radiated from him as an aura, and dispatched purple electricity through the air.
“Now then..it’s time..to end this————!!”
From his ten ominously sharp fingers, a wave surge of nothingness extended far out.
Just as they tried to cut apart Haruyuki’s body—
At that instant.
The phenomenon occurred.
*PAH*?An intense flash.
What was shining was the devil wings extending out from either side of Dusk Taker’s back.
The wings cracked as if they had changed into ultra-thin glass. With a cracking sound, they crumbled apart.
And disappeared.
“Wha....”
Noumi widened his eyes and gasped.
“Wh..y..Why are my wings disappe..”
Just before he finished speaking, the two avatars shook with a ‘GAKUN’. The flying power that had kept the two of them in the air until now was extinguished, and they began to fall while entangled with each other.
However, Haruyuki immediately felt something trying to restore him.
It was heat. A small heat that dwelled and gasped in both sides of his back and on the points of his shoulder blades.
Only Silver Crow’s falling speed slowed, and his left hand that had been piercing through Dusk Taker came back out.
The twilight avatar fell headlong towards the ground with both his arms spread out in astonishment.
In comparison, Haruyuki’s fall became even slower, until finally he felt like he was floating and stopped.
It wasn’t the Gale Thruster. With its gauge completely depleted, the Enhanced Armament was still silent.
That’s right—this sensation. This longing so great he wanted to cry, and this exaltation.
“....Ah, ah..”
At the same time as his voice leaked out, actual tears flowed down from his eyes.
The heat that dwelled in his shoulder blades rapidly increased in temperature. The energy swelled, and swirled in search of somewhere to go. As if two bones inside him had awakened the memories of the organ they were equipped with.
Guided by something, Haruyuki put up his hands and crossed them in front of his body.
He clenched his fists. He put his strength into them.
“....Welcome back. Thank you.”
Giving that short whisper, he suddenly opened up his arms left and right.
*SHARAAAAN!!*
A noise more beautiful than any other sound was produced, and spread through the night sky.
Even without directly seeing it, Haruyuki knew. That ten metal fins that all reflected the moonlight and shone silver were unfolding out from his back and from either side of his booster.
Silver wings. The soaring power that served as the proof of Silver Crow’s existence.
He had finally returned. To his true form. To Accel World’s only flight-type duel avatar that had had been born from the scars in Haruyuki’s heart.
The instant that firm belief and feeling filled up his chest to the brim, another phenomenon occurred.
The gauge of the Gale Thruster, which had fused with his wings, shined as if they were linked together and automatically refilled itself.
‘Fly’, is what it felt like it was telling him.
Haruyuki nodded, drew back his right hand to his chest, and turned his body downwards.
Dusk Taker’s silhouette, which was still in the midst of falling, looked small over the center of the white field which spread out endlessly.
Although he had lost his wings, his HP gauge itself should have recovered due to the power of ?Citron Call?. His HP might be equivalent to the damage he would take from falling from such a high altitude.
—But, I’ll finish it before that.
Haruyuki spread out his silver wings as far as possible.
The fins began to vibrate minutely. A nostalgic propulsive power wrapped around his body.
At the same time, the Gale Thruster also lit up. It blue flames were reflected by the silver wings, shining beautifully.
After firmly holding his breath back along with the energy that was increasing at terrifying rate, Haruyuki shouted.
“Go..ooooooo——!!”
A silver aura spread out from his wings. Blue exhaust flames gushed far out.
*DOH!!*?Shooting through the wall of air in an instant, Haruyuki flew.
It was probably a movement speed that no other avatar had attained since the beginning of Accel World. Adding the virtual gravity to the propulsive power of his wings and booster, Haruyuki rushed downwards as a streak of lightning.
Even with Haruyuki’s accelerated senses, it all happened in an instant.
Having changed into an arrow of light with his right hand, clad in a sword of mind power, at the tip, Silver Crow approached the falling Dusk Taker, touched him—and pierced through him.
*PAH*?The twilight-colored avatar disintegrated out in a circle fashion from the center of his body.
Running through the mixture point without even touching any of those polygons, Haruyuki controlled his posture with his wings and turned his booster towards below him.
The propulsive power offset the momentum of his fall, decelerated it, and finally stopped him.
Immediately after, the bottoms of his feet touched the ground.
As Haruyuki then knelt down as if collapsing, a slightly late and heavy falling sound reached his ears.
He resisted the feeling of fatigue that was suddenly assaulting him, and raised his head.
There was the Umesato Middle School schoolyard, near the place where he had taken off from. A black lump was rolling on the ground a little ways away from him.
It was Dusk Taker. However, all that was left of him was just his head, his chest, and the short tentacles that were regenerating from his left shoulder. Behind his visor, his eyes were very weak and were flickering irregularly. Even if he had some HP gauge left, it had to be less than 10%.
Haruyuki got up in order to drag along his body.
After walking one, two steps, he heard a voice.
“....Wh, y..Why..did my wings, disappear..”
Noumi groaned that out as if that were more enormous shock than having his body blown away.
The one that answered him wasn’t Haruyuki.
“It’s because..my power isn’t ?healing?.”
Turning his face with a start, he saw Chiyuri—Lime Bell standing there. She was covering her flank that had a hole dug in it with her severed right arm.
And Cyan Pile was also standing next to her, still missing both his arms. Furthermore, Black Lotus and Black Vise could also be seen, still facing off against each other. They were standing on guard without any sign of inattention, but it seemed that they had both stopped their mind power attacks.
“Wh..at?”
Noumi muttered in a hoarse voice.
“If it isn’t..healing ability, then what are you saying it is?”
After staying silent for a while, Chiyuri replied quietly.
“..I always felt it was strange ever since I became a Burst Linker. Why was I given a power like ?healing?? But..at fifth period on Tuesday, after I healed you for the first time, I realized it when I talked with Haru and Takkun. That time, Haru told me that when I healed you, I didn’t just restore your avatar’s wounds and HP, but also the mechanism of your right hand. I thought that was odd. That wasn’t healing, but repairing. And then..I realized and understood.”
After sucking in a big breath, the avatar of the color of new green leaves spoke clearly.
“My power isn’t ?healing?. It’s the ?power to turn back time?. I can turn back the time of the avatar I use my technique on. That’s why..I thought. ‘If I use this power, I can surely take back Haru’s wings. I can turn back Dusk Taker’s time all the way to before he stole Silver Crow’s ability’.”
——So that’s, how it was.
The instant he thought that, the inside of Haruyuki’s chest hurt strongly with a ‘ZUKIN’. Tears built up in his eyes once again.
—And yet, I doubted Chiyu once. I didn’t believe in my childhood friend, who was doing her best for my sake. I’m an idiot. A complete and utter idiot.
As Haruyuki hanged his head deeply in shame, a voice of resounding resentment reached his ears from the ground at his feet.
“....What..you betrayed me? You betrayed me, Lime Bell?”
While in a state where he had lost his body and was dying, Noumi shouted out as if his anger gave his power.
“Me, who made you win so much..me, who gave you such a vast quantity of points, you betrayed me!!”
“You’re wrong, I didn’t betray you.”
Chiyuri also responded in a voice that had regained just a little of its usual unyielding spirit.
“I healed you the first time because you threatened with that video. I obeyed you after that in order to level up my special technique and increase the amount of time I can turn back..And also to aim for this one chance today. I never once became your comrade!”
Once again, there was silence for a while.
The wrecked body of twilight-colored avatar trembled, and he suddenly gave a low laugh.
“....Fu, fufufu. Good grief..every single one of you people are just idiots. It’s disgusting just looking at your faces. I’m going back. I’ll distribute all of your real life information and leave the clean-up to someone else. I’ll transfer to another school and make my kingdom again there. —Now then, what are you doing, Vise? Quickly take me away and let’s retreat.”
The instant he heard that, Haruyuki quickly raised his head and looked over at the laminated avatar who was confronting Black Lotus over there.
The jet-black avatar slowly tilted his head—
And spoke quietly.
“That’s a problem. No matter what you might say, doing that is difficult in this situation, Taker-kun.”
“..Then put in some effort. If a main force member like me is gone, the ?Research Society? will be troubled too. I may even leak information about the BIC.”
“No, I don't think I have to worry about that. Our BIC has been customized so that, if Brain Burst is lost, it will automatically deactivate the instant it detects that and then soon after dissolve into the cerebrospinal fluids and vanish, so tracing it is impossible. Besides..Taker-kun, you of all people should know. That an ex-Acceleration Ability User cannot interfere in any way with this world anymore.”
Haruyuki couldn’t grasp the meaning of Black Vise’s words at all.
However, Noumi raised his face with a start, and then glared at the full moon above—and suddenly shouted.
“Shit. Shit! Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!!”
He yelled for a while, and scattered out even more words.
“I won’t accept it! I won’t allow such a development! Someone, anyone, come here! Save me! If you do, I’ll give you points!!”
—I’ve had enough.
The instant Haruyuki thought that, Takumu also looked at Haruyuki and spoke.
“..Let’s end it, Haru.”
“..Yeah.”
Nodding, Haruyuki started walking. In order to bring about a conclusion to everything.
Dusk Taker shouted out in a high voice the instant he save Silver Crow approaching him.
“St..Stop! I know, from now on, I’ll supply points to you people! It’s not a bad deal! I’ll even join your legion if you want!!”
Haruyuki raised his right hand while walking. A white glow extended out from his straightened fingers.
“Stop, don’t do it, I don’t want to lose it! My power! My ?acceleration?!! Don’t, don’t..dooooooooooooooooon’t!!”
Dusk Taker sprang and turned over his over that consisted of only the top-half, and tried to get away by scratching the ground with his short tentacles.
Freezing his heart, Haruyuki held up his sword of light high, and—
Brandished it without hesitation.
*KAH*?The air trembled, a thin line of light ran and extended to the white pavement tiles, and caught the crawling Dusk Taker.
The twilight-colored avatar was cut in half left and right down his exact center without a sound .
And immediately after, a huge red-purple column of flame spurted. Countless ribbons of light was released from the center of the flames into the sky, dissolved in the air and then vanished. All the ribbons were weaved with detailed digital code. It was nothing other than the final disappearance phenomenon of a Burst Linker that Haruyuki had only seen once before.
At this moment, the ?plunderer? that had reigned over Umesato Middle School and trampled over Haruyuki and the others with overwhelming power, exited from Accel World forever.
The system font that declared the conclusion of the Sudden Death Duel shined red in the vision of Haruyuki, who was standing stock-still. A massive amount of Burst Points was added to his, and it continued with a message that said that rising to Level 5 was now possible.
However, neither the joy of victory nor a sense of accomplishment was born in Haruyuki’s chest.
Only the recognition that everything was over spread quietly through him and filled his entire body.
When he dragged along his ragged body and moved several steps over to Chiyuri and Takumu, he heard a resolute voice.
“——Now then.”
It was the voice of Kuroyukihime, who had been perfectly restraining the mysteriously Burst Linker ?Black Vise? in a mind power battle until now.
“There are a mountain of things I’d like to ask you, but you probably don’t plan on talking. In that case, let’s settle this quickly.”
In response to that, the laminated avatar shook his head slightly.
“No, I’ve come to unpleasantly understand the true power of a king in these last few minutes. I can’t win at all, so I will be quietly exiting here.”
It was a quiet voice that showed how he didn’t think anything of how his comrade had been completely annihilated before his eyes. Kuroyukihime quickly raised her right hand’s sword and whispered in an increasingly-sharp voice.
“I also don’t have the obligation to overlook you saying that. I’ll cut you down first, and then slowly consider how to deal with you for the hour until you revive.”
“Scary, scary.”
Shrugging his shoulders, Black Vise continued speaking in an even more aloof manner.
“—But, my greatest ability is ?running away?, you know. Ah, one more thing before that. I know absolutely nothing concerning you people of the Black Legion. Even though I came here, it was only because I was requested to with a prepayment from Taker-kun. Naturally, I didn’t receive any information of your real life information at all from him, and if possible I don’t want to ever have anything more to do with you from now on.”
“Too late.”
Retorting back coldly, Kuroyukihime wrapped a red aura around her right hand’s sword and a blue aura around her left hand’s sword.
Just after she took one step forward—
Suddenly, a strange phenomenon occurred.
Black Vise gathered the countless thin plates that constituted his entire body and collected them into a single plate in the middle with a ‘PATATATA’.
The only thing that existed there now was a single black plate—no, it was just a shadow. It looked it just barely had a form from Haruyuki’s position, but when it turned to the front, it was hardly possible to see it at all.
“Then, I bid you farewell.”
Immediately after hearing that voice, the thin shadow sank as if melting into the shadow of the school building that spread out beneath him. A ‘HYUU’ moving sound receded away at a high speed.
“—HAH!!”
Kuroyukihime swung her wight arm up with a yell.
A crimson line ran over the ground, collided with the school building, ran up it, and—
“Uah!?”
Haruyuki let out a voice of astonishment as he watched as the southwest corner of the chalk-like royal palace, which in the real world would have been a corner of the staffroom or principal’s office, was cut off and collapsed hugely.
Mixed in among the countless smashed white objects, a single small black plate was blown high up and away, pierced the ground further away in the schoolyard—and transformed into a single arm and rolled over the ground.
But, nothing else happened. The arm also immediately turned into countless polygons, dispersed and vanished.
“..So he got away, huh.”
Muttering that, Kuroyukihime lowered her sword.
After gazing at that far too beautiful, heroic, and also transient form for a while.
Haruyuki shouted out a single word and started running.
“....Senpai!!”
He desperately ran with his avatar whose upper body armor had been blown away and furthermore had countless wounds running through it. Hearing his footsteps, Kuroyukihime turned around.
Stopping right in front of her, Haruyuki grasped both his hands tightly.
“Senpai..senpai..I..I....”
He couldn’t say anything more than that.
Kuroyukihime gazed at the shining Gale Thruster that was fused with his wings on Haruyuki’s back for a while.
Her violet-blue eyes blinked, and she nodded her head deeply. She then lifted her right hand’s sword, clapped Haruyuki’s shoulder with its ridge, and spoke.
“—You really did you best. I’ll have a detailed talk with you after I return to Tokyo tomorrow. For now, take a good rest.”
And then her gaze move to behind Haruyuki’s back. There, Cyan Pile and Lime Bell also stood together.
“You also fought well, Takumu-kun. Thank you for all your efforts today. And also..Kurashima-kun, no, Chiyuri-kun.”
There, Kuroyukihime did an unexpected action. She suddenly bowed her head to Lime Bell.
“—Truly, thank you. If you hadn’t told me about this, I wouldn’t have been able to run here.”
“Wha....”
“What!?”
Haruyuki and Takumu both cried out at the same time.
“T-Told you..wait, Chiyu, you!? Told Kuroyukihime-senpai!?”
“That’s right!”
Brandishing her left hand’s bell, Chiyuri shouted in her usual spirited voice.
“You guys probably wondered for what purpose I expressly came to see you. It was of course in order wait for you to specify the true duel time and then send it to Kuroyuki[9]-senpai!”
“Eh..eeh..w-wait a minute..”
While sputtering that out, Haruyuki desperately turned the wheels in his already tired brain.
Immediately before Diving into the Unlimited Neutral Field, and after sending Noumi the last of the postponement messages, Haruyuki had certainly said it. ‘All right, we’ll Dive in one minute.’
The instant Chiyuri had heard that, she had pushed the transmit button for a message addressed to Kuroyukihime, which she had maintained in her virtual desktop beforehand. Having received the message in Okinawa, Kuroyukihime had Dived immediately into the Unlimited Neutral Field, captured a flying horse Enemy, and dashed intently towards Tokyo for 15 hours—or so is what must have happened.
As Haruyuki and Takumu looked at each other dumbfoundedly, Chiyuri’s voice continued showering them.
“Because I was anxious entrusting things to you obstinate boys, I sent an email to senpai the moment you guys decided to do this duel, and told her about everything that happened until now. Then, I got a reply saying ‘I’ll run there through the field, so specify the exact time’. It was really irritating waiting at Haru’s house, wondering when you’d finally decide the time!!”
“So..Sorry..”
After murmuring that, Haruyuki did a big shake of his head once—
And then first turned towards Kuroyukihime, and bowed his head very, very deeply.
“Thank you very much, senpai. To have traveled as long as 15 hours to come save us..When I saw senpai on the roof, I was extremely moved..and happy.”
“I think I was tried to show off a little too much there.”
As Kuroyukihime shrugged her shoulders, Haruyuki responded with a smile while holding back tears.
Next, he looked at Chiyuri, and bowed his head once again.
“....Thank you, Chiyuri. If only me and Taku had been here, we would have definitely lost. Truly..thank you.”
His throat was blocked and his voice trembled.
“..Geez.”
Chiyuri’s voice as she responded was also quietly wet. However, his childhood friend continued in a brighter tone.
“I’ll get very anxious from now on if it’s only the two of you, so..I guess I’ll have to join Nega Nebulas as well.”
“Eh.”
“C-Chii-chan.”
Now ignoring the two boys as they raised their voices, Chiyuri turned around to face Kuroyukihime, and tilted her head as if shy.
In response to that, Kuroyukihime also nodded, and then quickly operated her BB console.
Chiyuri didn’t hesitate at all as she pressed the ‘legion joining’ request that was probably displayed in her field of vision.
And then, the jet-black and bright green female-type avatars each took a st-->>